I once dreamed of living in a shopping mall with Barbie items surrounding me. I wanted to have a life-sized Barbie to play with, Barbie shoes, Barbie clothes, Barbie bags, Barbie plates, Barbie coat … well, you get the picture. My first Barbie doll was this mermaid like one with really long hair that I would comb almost endlessly. She wore a gold costume, had pink high heeled shoes, pink comb, gold crown. I remember how I wailed when my hair was cut the moment that I was too happy that I finally grew it as long as Barbie’s… I never went back to that salon since then. I remember how I would guard Barbie’s crown, along with her high heeled shoes that I tried so hard to fit with mine. I thought it was the only Barbie doll in the world. I never realized other kids have other Barbie dolls too. That Barbie doll was the only one I had. I was contented to have just that one doll but I insisted on having other Barbie items like my school bag. Until high school, I turned up in school with my hair style looking as close as Barbie’s. My classmates found it funny how I find time to fix my hair even when I was running late for school.
I can not remember when or even why I started to like Barbie. May be because she’s too pink, my favorite color when I was a kid. May be she’s too blond, unlike my black hair.
I used to fantasize about having a blond hair. After some time, I wanted to become a brunette. When I started to like the color blue, I even thought of having a streak of blue on my hair. There was a trend where almost everyone colored their hair, I had this urge to go with the flow and follow them. Yet I was always told that I have really shiny black hair. It was a complement I never really bothered to appreciate, until now. Come to think of it, aside from being blond, Barbie has black hair too.
Barbie has Ken (and tons of other leading men basing from her movies). I remember ignoring Ken. I wasn’t aware of who he was in Barbie’s life until I entered fifth grade when real life love teams were formed inside our classroom. I found it too cheesy. Then other boys replaced Ken in Barbie movies. All of a sudden, Ken was forgotten. But I think no matter how many other boys come into Barbie’s life, she’ll still remember Ken. I believe there’s Ken in every girl’s life. I know I have one; I just have to figure out who he is.
Barbie embodies the ideal girl. She has the picture perfect façade. She’s into sports yet she can be classy and elegant in a snap. In the movies, she’s smart and kind… a lethal combination if I may say so. She doesn’t have a hard time finding the right clothes to wear because she seems to fit perfectly in all clothes. The only thing wrong is that she’s not real.
No matter how perfect she seems to be, she remains a dream. She remains something the little girl in me wanted to be and may be a part of me still wants to be close to who she is but in a real way. I think it’s possible that right now; I’m not the one who wants to become someone else. I think there’s a possibility that Barbie envies me and all the other girls in the world because in the end, what matters most is not how perfect you are but how real you can be.