Both Miguel E. and Elizabeth T. sent in links to the new Black Canary Barbie. Black Canary is a female comic book character. This is her (found here):
And here’s the barbie version (found at Boing Boing):
Apparently there has been an outcry about the inappropriateness of the Barbie, but not the Black Canary character. Elizabeth thinks that this is odd. She writes:
To my eye, Mattel’s Black Canary is less sexualized that DC’s Black Canary (and hey, Mattel’s standard Barbie body proportions may even be less ridiculous than DC’s!), but the Mattel version is raising protest for being “sexually suggestive” and “filth”.
And she thinks that this has something to do with how Barbie is being sexualized, instead of the simple fact that she is. Elizabeth again:
I’m struck with the contrast between the mainstream acceptance of all this within the pages of DC/Marvel comics, but the protest of a much-milder version of it in a Barbie doll. (Especially since the market already includes Bratz dolls — it’s not as if the doll market is sexually innocent.) As near as I can tell, the “problem” here is that this highly-sexualized character suggests a “wrong” kind of sex.
Elizabeth also sent us some interesting links to a drawing guide for comic artists and a post about the way in which women in comics are often drawn with “pornface.”
Also about Barbie: Barbie’s pregnant friend, Hard Rock Barbie balances masculinity and femininity, and vintage, less “manly” Ken.
