Rachel Rebecca Petrillo

It’s Barbie’s moment right now, so here I am with my Barbie jeep : ) but I’m curious about how this little doll impacted you if at all? I look at it now and see a somewhat archaic concept of “ultimate femininity,” and ultimately given that childhood often impacts the rest of our lives and playing pretend with toys and dolls were some of the FIRST STORIES WE EVER WROTE as kids, I would imagine many of the first ideas of who we’d like to be or “should”be were formed in these moments.
Kinda wild when I think about it like that.

I think Barbie was meant to be aspirational in a lot of ways, giving girls, a body, hair, face and a career to aspire to, which likely subconsciously shaped what we thought would make us “good enough.” Maybe it’s not that deep for everyone, but it is for a lot of us. ✨I’m curious about how playing pretend shaped you, what toys and characters brought out the most imagination in you? ✨

Side note: a personal hero of mine is the woman who helped to facilitate bringing about a more healthy shape to Barbie, and she’s a literal pioneer in so many ways!!
@imjessweiner