Beautiful, independent, professional, educated, and elegant: These words represent the Barbie world, which teaches girls around the world about idealized femininity. A Brazilian YouTube parody, Barbi Maconheira (or “Pothead Barbie”), breaks with this environment. Speaking with an accent from the periphery through slang, and with an approach in opposition to the traditional Barbie way of life, Barbi Maconheira breaks paradigms in a critical way by questioning Barbie’s own identity—presented as the untouchable idea of the perfect woman based on social judgments and aspirations. In this chapter, we analyze the transgression of Barbie culture (Rogers, 1999) by parody on Brazilian YouTube that appropriates and overdubs footage from official Barbie movies, such as Barbie Princess Adventure (2020) and Barbie Rapunzel (2002). Analyzing these parodies with the French line of discourse (Maingueneau, 2006, Foucault, 1979, 1996), we discuss how an identity rupture occurs through parody and new representations of Barbie. We further consider the implications of YouTube as a site of parodies’ emergence and of visibility for new discussions about societal expectations and judgments regarding femininity and women’s behavior—a significant contrast with representations of Barbie in traditional media, like TV and film. The case of Barbi Maconheira demonstrates the power of YouTube as a platform for the dissemination of an alternative and critical culture.

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Barbie’s Brazilian Parody: Deconstructing the Image of Mattel’s Perfect Doll

  • Petronilio Filipe-Ferreira,
  • Vírnia Martins,
  • Giselly Martins da Horta

摘要

Beautiful, independent, professional, educated, and elegant: These words represent the Barbie world, which teaches girls around the world about idealized femininity. A Brazilian YouTube parody, Barbi Maconheira (or “Pothead Barbie”), breaks with this environment. Speaking with an accent from the periphery through slang, and with an approach in opposition to the traditional Barbie way of life, Barbi Maconheira breaks paradigms in a critical way by questioning Barbie’s own identity—presented as the untouchable idea of the perfect woman based on social judgments and aspirations. In this chapter, we analyze the transgression of Barbie culture (Rogers, 1999) by parody on Brazilian YouTube that appropriates and overdubs footage from official Barbie movies, such as Barbie Princess Adventure (2020) and Barbie Rapunzel (2002). Analyzing these parodies with the French line of discourse (Maingueneau, 2006, Foucault, 1979, 1996), we discuss how an identity rupture occurs through parody and new representations of Barbie. We further consider the implications of YouTube as a site of parodies’ emergence and of visibility for new discussions about societal expectations and judgments regarding femininity and women’s behavior—a significant contrast with representations of Barbie in traditional media, like TV and film. The case of Barbi Maconheira demonstrates the power of YouTube as a platform for the dissemination of an alternative and critical culture.