UnBarbie: Queering the Image of the 11-inch Doll

With a reported 98% global recognition rate, Barbie is perhaps the world’s most well-known icon. She is not without her share of controversy, but there is no doubt that her existence represents “girlhood” to a large group of the world’s population. However, Barbie’s heteronormative and cisnormative ideals have been challenged recently by another Mattel brand toy line: Creatable World dolls. Where Barbie consistently represents femininity, Creatable World is supposed to represent inclusion, designed to “Keep labels out,” to quote Mattel’s promotional materials for the line.

This photographic research project points a critical lens at the popular image of the 11-inch fashion doll and subverts it through the use of Creatable World dolls and 1/6 scale dioramas. Reminiscent of the photography of David Levinthal and the miniature crime scene models of Frances Glessner Lee, UnBarbie seeks to represent the queer gaze and objectification using gender-neutral dolls and the nearly unlimited character creation options that such toys allow.