Barbie Goes to Gay Pride...

Now as most of you know, I mostly tend to talk about videos, books, articles and that sort of media artifact. However, this time I couldn’t resist showcasing a fantastic children’s toy that my partner and I happened upon while walking through a discount store. She’s called “Barbie Fairytopia- Rainbow Adventure Elina doll.” Upon arriving home and doing a bit of research, I learned that you can also purchase an accompanying video titled “Magic of the Rainbow.’

Now I’m not sure why anyone would actually purchase this toy for a child, all reviews of the bizarre toy are poor. According to advertising the doll is supposed to function as a remote control for the included DVD game. Comments from parents on a number of online shopping sites explain their inability to program the toy. That said, I know plenty of adults who would want her for novelty sake. I for example totally would display one proudly on my desk.

Barbie/Elina is cloaked in rainbows from her corset and wings to her glittering rainbow eye shadow looks as though a gay pride parade threw up on her, and I love it! The hyper femininity expressed through high wide eye shadow in a cascading rainbow upon her face invokes imagery of the theatrical flamboyant style embodied by many drag queens and queer high femmes. The use of gay imagery in her “fairy” outfit combined with the use of key phrases like “rainbow adventure” offers a plethora of possibilities for queer readings for this plastic character. The symbolism of the rainbow is linked intimately to the queer community. Further, the idea of going on a “gay adventure” conjures all sorts of homoerotic connotations, subsequently placing this doll who “is going to fairy school to learn to use her fairy powers” according to an online advertisement from Mattel firmly into the realm of the queer.