When Mattel Inc. introduced Barbie in 1959, this infamous blonde had only one objective-to look good. Yet, Barbie gradually moved from a passive object to an active representative of female advancement, now claiming over 80 professions and 45 nationalities.
Despite these improvements, Barbie still lacks the voice and power to enact true change. Women can no more depend on Barbie to represent women of today than they can count on ignorance and inaction to advance female rights in war, court, housing or their own bodies.
In 1992, Barbie enlisted in the army for the first time as a medic Sergeant in Desert Storm. During the same conflict, the debate over women in combat intensified and eventually led to the opening of about 80 percent of all military positions to females. House Republicans reopened the issue last May with a regressive proposal to 'protect' women by reducing the jobs available to women in uniform, a proposal both patronizing and impractical as the military begins to scrape the bottom of the barrel of volunteers.
The original proposal met opposition and proponents retreated, but the substituted amendment grants Congress excessive power to determine future advancements for women in the military. Women enlist in the military with complete knowledge of the risk of losing their lives and do not require insulting protections that provide no immunity to bullets, car bombs or other carnage at the battlefront.
Stephanie Ricketts, programming coordinator for the Campus Women's Center, said, \I am of the opinion that women should have every right to be in the armed forces as their males counterparts are, serving in the same capacities."" In attempting to ""protect"" the ranks of voluntary servicewomen, House Republicans veiled chauvinism with misguided chivalry.
With a mane of blond hair in lieu of a powdered wig, Barbie has yet to enter the courthouse. The retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor from the bench and the passing of Chief Justice William Rehnquist opened a vacancy that a female should justly occupy. This proposition does not imply that any woman would suffice in the position; she must possess the appropriate credentials and ability to judge fairly.
Whether in the courthouse or dream house, women deserve fair representation and treatment. On campus, Elizabeth Waters Hall represented the real life equivalent of the Barbie dream house and encouraged the movement of thousands of women into formerly ""male"" careers, such as science and engineering. The university made a logical decision to open the dormitory to members of both sexes, but the decision should not preclude the construction of alternate all-female housing.
""I am very glad that they have made arrangements for an alternate facility that is all women's because I think it would be unacceptable to not have that option,"" Ricketts said.
Sadly, Barbie had no option to demand autonomy over her body in 1998, when Mattel decided to tattoo her body with permanent panties. Certainly no legislator would propose contraception legislation as extreme as Mattel's permanent chastity belt, but a milder encroachment on fertility control surfaced in legislation proposed last April by Rep. Daniel LeMahieu, R-Oostburg.
LeMahieu's bill, AB 343, contains such vague language that it could potentially prohibit distribution of all forms of birth control from UW Health Services. If women value their sexual freedom to choose when, whether and how many children to bear, they should raise their voices and demonstrate opposition to LeMahieu's unjust fertility imposition.
Like many students at the university, Barbie hails from humble, small town Wisconsin. Her progress reflects and relies on the activism of women who labor for change. If female students on campus desire to serve in full military capacity, fill the supreme court vacancy, receive fair housing and reclaim autonomy over their bodies, they must recognize the significance of these issues, rally for progressive gender policies and thereby prove Barbie's slogan that women can truly ""be anything.""
