All Of My Barbies Were Weird Barbies
Reflections on a childhood of imagination, not fashion
In the Barbie movie, Kate McKinnon plays the “weird Barbie.” A Barbie who was played with too roughly, resulting in some strange quirks like an odd haircut, colors on her face, and the tendency to do splits perpetually. While the rest of the Barbies are pristine with their perfect hair and clothes, weird Barbie is just kind of doing her own thing.
This made me realize that all Barbies I owned as a kid were weird Barbies.
I distinctly remember when I learned not all the girls played with Barbie the way I did. We visited my mom’s friend, who had two daughters I could play with. Their house was always spotless, with Legos neatly organized in color-coded bins. While I had various nondescript Barbies scattered around the house, they had collectible versions displayed in pristine packaging.
Some dolls, apparently, were not for playing — just looking at. But they did have a Dreamhouse and some Barbies that were out of the box, ready for adventure.
Or so I thought.
It’s not that I never played with these dolls with other kids. My childhood best friend and I played with my Barbies all the time. We just didn’t do it the way these girls did.
