The Barbie Liberation Organization was a publicity stunt in which the voice boxes were switched between nearly 300 Barbie and GI Joe dolls. This caused an uproar in the media, which was the very intention of the BLO. Mothers should have thought of this as a movement and a message instead of a prank to confuse their kids. The main point that the BLO was trying to make was that toys encourage negative behavior in children by exposing them to violence and sexism that Barbie and GI Joe represent.
Personally, I thought this was hilarious. As a babysitter I have seen the negative effects that certain toys and games have on children. It is sad that the innocence of a child can be overlooked as ignorance. Just because they may not fully understand the idea of sexism and gender rolls, little boys still have a habit of making fun of kids that play with toys like Barbie and therefore will grow to see women as less superior. I thought that even though parents were upset about the who dilemma, that there was no real harm done. If anything, the kids had a good laugh about it and probably looked at Barbie a little differently ever since.
Valie Export was an icon for feminist reform in the late 60's.The idea of letting strangers grab my boobs does not instantly strike me as art. After reading this chapter I began to understand the reasoning behind such a bizarre attempt at a statement art piece. She used her body as the focus of the piece which showed her radical feminist strength. She called Touch Cinema "the first genuine women's film." Her bravery and shocking approach caused the public to really think about the power of the human body and how women should contain the will to express their bodies without fear or meditation.
No comments:
Post a Comment