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BMA’s Barbie Exhibit: How Society Views Beauty and Women of Color

BIRMINGHAM TIMES — What has Barbie done for you, and what has Barbie done to you? These are the questions curators at the Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA) want visitors to ponder as they explore the new exhibit “Barbie: Dreaming of a Female Future.” The exhibition, which opened on August 10 and will be open through January 2020, takes a critical look at Barbie as toy-manufacturing company Mattel marks the 60th anniversary of the iconic doll.

Published

7 years ago

August 31, 2019

Oakland Post

Barbie: Dreaming of a Female Future, depicting a view of a modern Barbie's house is displayed at the Birmingham Museum of Art. (Photo by: Mark Almond)

By Javacia Harris Bowser

What has Barbie done for you, and what has Barbie done to you?

These are the questions curators at the Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA) want visitors to ponder as they explore the new exhibit “Barbie: Dreaming of a Female Future.”

The exhibition, which opened on August 10 and will be open through January 2020, takes a critical look at Barbie as toy-manufacturing company Mattel marks the 60th anniversary of the iconic doll.

While Barbie has sparked the imaginations of children around the world for six decades, the doll has also promoted narrow beauty standards and body ideals that are unattainable for most women, particularly for girls and women of color. The exhibit is the brainchild of Hallie Ringle, the BMA’s Hugh Paul Curator of Contemporary Art.

“Many of us have a very complicated relationship with Barbie,” Ringle said. “While she is very much a figure promoting white womanhood and white standards of beauty, she was also the only doll—for many years, at least—that was telling girls to aspire to different careers; telling girls they didn’t have to have a Ken in their life, that their existence didn’t have to rely on a man or a baby, and that they could build their own spaces.”

Black Barbie

For the exhibit, Ringle wanted to create a literal space for visitors to explore as they examined their relationship to Barbie. The first Barbie Dreamhouse launched in 1962, and for this exhibit Ringle called on interior designers from the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Studio BOCA to create a life-size Barbie Dreamhouse in the BMA’s Arrington Gallery that guests can walk through and view contemporary art inspired by the doll.

Ringle said one of her inspirations for the exhibit was the work of Atlanta, Ga-based photographic artist Sheila Pree Bright, whose pieces hang over the sofa in Barbie’s BMA living room. These works are from Bright’s 2003 collection “Plastic Bodies,” which explores the complex relationship women of color have with white beauty standards by combining images of real women’s faces and bodies with those of Barbie dolls.

“I started looking at how multiethnic women perceived themselves when it came to beauty and looking at African American women and how they viewed themselves and their bodies based on the Western concepts and narrative,” Bright explained to The Birmingham Times.

Though Bright didn’t play with Barbie dolls herself as a child, thinking of American beauty standards led her to thinking of Mattel’s mainstay.

“Barbie is a cultural icon and the most popular doll in America. Even to this day, it’s the number-one fashion doll,” Bright said. “So, I started looking at how this applied to society’s views of beauty and women, especially women of color.”

Bright believes that in popular American culture, the essence of natural beauty is replaced by fantasy, a fantasy of which Barbie is both a product and promotion.

“In the media, we fabricate the illusion of the perfect body or beauty, even with the Barbie doll, and it’s rooted in Western concepts,” Bright said. “As a society, we get caught up in this illusion. I think that, as a metaphor, Barbie has become human and we have become plastic.”

Bright pointed out that even as voluptuous shapes and sizes have become more celebrated in mainstream media, this too has an element of artificiality. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons estimates that buttock augmentation surgery increased by 252 percent between the years 2000 and 2015. And it’s not lost on Bright that rapper Nicki Minaj calls herself “Black Barbie.”

Barbie has had black friends since the release of Christie in 1968. The first diverse dolls named “Barbie” were released in 1980, and Barbie’s Dolls of the World collection hit shelves in 1981. It wasn’t until 2016 that Mattel introduced three new Barbie body types: curvy, petite, and tall. According to the company’s website, the new body types were meant to “reflect the world girls see today.” The launch landed Barbie on the cover of Time magazine.

This year, Mattel debuted a doll with a prosthetic leg and another that comes with a wheelchair as part of the 2019 Barbie Fashionista line, which aims to offer youngsters more diverse representations of beauty. Nonetheless, Bright is not convinced that the message Barbie conveys has changed, especially when she browses Barbie’s social media influencer style Instagram account @BarbieStyle.

“When you look at the images on their Instagram, you still see that Western narrative,” Bright said. “They’re not promoting those body types. It’s the same old narrative and a few different ethnic dolls as Barbie’s friends. So, what has changed?”

Click to view slideshow.

Barbie’s Dreamhouse

The BMA’s “Barbie: Dreaming of a Female Future” was created to be an interactive exhibit. There are no “Please Do Not Touch” signs in Barbie’s Dreamhouse. Visitors are encouraged to make themselves at home. Guests can lounge on the sofa in Barbie’s living room or go to the sitting room and watch artist Lauren Kelley’s thought-provoking video vignettes. There are iPads visitors can use to scroll through to learn more about the exhibit.

Barbie’s library is stocked with feminist literature by the likes of Margaret Atwood, Naomi Wolf, and Betty Friedan. There are children’s books, too, such as “Malala’s Magic Pencil” by Malala Yousafzai. Ringle has said her dream is to find people reading to their children in the exhibit. Kids can also have a make-believe meal in Barbie’s dining room and even write a letter to Barbie at her computer.

Visitors can check their makeup or hair at Barbie’s vanity in her dressing room, which features glowing furniture by Kim Markel. Then they can strike a pose in front of the Grace Hartigan painting hanging in Barbie’s foyer or the rhinestone-studded pink wallpaper by the New York design studio Flat Vernacular.

Artists from Flat Vernacular also created the eye-catching work that hangs just outside Barbie’s Dreamhouse. “If the Shoe Fits” reimagines a mariner’s quilt with hundreds of Barbie shoes to honor and highlight women’s labor in the American South.

Studio BOCA, the architectural and interior design company tasked with building Barbie’s Dreamhouse for the exhibit, is run by sisters Kate Taylor Boehm and Kirby Caldwell.

“We just wanted to honor the process of female imagination,” Boehm said. “So, we figured rather than trying to convey a particular message, our approach would be just to incorporate the work of all female designers.”

Fond Memories

Boehm and Caldwell played with Barbie dolls as girls, and their memories of Barbie are mostly fond ones.

“She was just this strong female lead. When we were growing up in the 1980s, almost all movies had these male leads, and the female characters were all secondary,” Boehm said. “Barbie was a place where we could write our own story and have the female be the hero.”

Through Barbie, these two sisters also began to imagine themselves as business owners, a dream they would eventually make come true.

“Barbie planted a lot of seeds in our heads of what it meant to be a career woman and have a vision and have drive,” Caldwell said.

Boehm, however, does have a memory of one day looking at her thighs when she was only 7 years old and thinking they were too big: “I guess that may have had something to do with seeing Barbie’s unrealistic thighs for so many years, but I never had a moment where I was like, ‘Oh I wish I looked like Barbie.’ It wasn’t really about that for me.”

It was about imagination.

“She was this blank canvas to which we could apply our imagination,” Boehm said. “Once we got a taste of being career women, even if it was only in our imaginations, there was no going back.”

A Female Future

The title of the exhibit is a nod to the phrase “The future is female,” which was first used in the 1970s but gained mainstream popularity in the past few years as it’s shown up on social media, T-shirts, lapel pins, and onesies. The phrase was adopted by supporters of former First Lady and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her historic run for president and has even been used by Clinton herself.

“A female future to me means control over our bodies and future and lives,” Ringle said, adding that she hopes the exhibit, filled with works by female artists and designers, will help visitors dream of that day. She also hopes men who view the exhibit will recognize the role and importance of womanhood in their own lives.

In 2018, the Barbie brand launched The Dream Gap Project, a global initiative aimed at giving girls the resources and role models they need to dream big and make those dreams come true.

“The exhibit really is just a celebration of people who have had the opportunity for their dreams to become reality and for their visions to be made tangible,” Boehm said. “It’s an expression of our hope that every person and, especially for this moment, every young girl will have the opportunity for her dreams to be made real at some point in her life.”

“Barbie: Dreaming of a Female Future,” on exhibit through Jan. 26, 2020, in the Birmingham Museum of Art’s Arrington Gallery

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

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3 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

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3 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

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May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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