Talk:Barbie

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): [[User:Brandon wells|Bradenwells]], Superjhn, Acmattia, Mtakemot (article contribs). Template:Vital article

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): JulieK9, G.lopez2383, Jennawalters13 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Jazmine Anthony. This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 7 January 2019 and 19 April 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Pandorafunk (article contribs).

Controversy and evaluation

First, The controversy of Barbie that provided on the website is a little bit chaotic. You can laid them out the point by point. Secondly, the controversies laid on the website is not so comprehensive and persuasive. Search much reliable resource before writing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.51.93.160 (talk) 21:11, 13 October 2016 (UTC)

I strongly agree and would like to put in sub-categories of 'Body Image', 'Diversity', 'Barbie as a role model' and 'Safety'. I am unsure what the Barbies in the microwave bit is doing in this section - it's interesting, but doesn't seem important enough to make the Wikipedia page, and doesn't really fit under 'Controversy'. The term 'evaluation' seems odd too - what exactly is meant by this? Squitchtweak (talk) 05:55, 23 November 2017 (UTC)Squitchtweak

I, Squitchtweak, went ahead and ordered the controversy section. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Squitchtweak (talk • contribs) 23:14, 29 March 2018 (UTC)

How is there no list of barbie characters/dolls?

The Barbie doll franchise is one of the most successful toy brands of all-time with billions of dolls sold worldwide and comes in so many different characters or "Careers". For this reason the list of all of the different barbie dolls should be more easily accessible and other than just being listed at the beginning of the article. Giggleshack603 (talk) 00:42, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

There is a separate article List of Barbie's friends and family which goes into more detail. There is also Barbie's careers. However, a list of every Barbie doll would run into problems with WP:NOTGUIDE and WP:TOPIC, as well as making the article too long. The article has tried to give a summary of the various dolls, but it doesn't try to list all of them. Here is a man who owns a collection of 2000 Barbie dolls and 1000 Kens (yes, really).--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 05:30, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

Shouldn't the Barbie links box be at the bottom of the main Barbie article, so people can easily find pages like family and friends?

Also, would a page about different ranges of Barbie dolls be appropriate? Eg. Fashionistas, So In Style, The Look, Generation Girls, I Can Be, Dreamtopia...

Squitchtweak (talk) 11:26, 18 April 2018 (UTC)Squitchtweak

Personally I'm not a fan of pages with the title "List of X" because they have problems with WP:GNG and WP:NOTDIRECTORY. There are two main types of Barbie doll, the ones that were built for children to play with, and the ones that were intended for adult collectors. According to Guinness World Records, Bettina Dorfmann in Germany has a collection of over 15,000 different Barbie dolls.[1] People tend to underestimate how many different Barbie dolls there are, and an exhaustive listing is beyond the scope of Wikipedia.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 14:14, 18 April 2018 (UTC)

Hi, perhaps I didn't really make that clear. I'm also not a fan of 'list of X'. I was going to write a little about significant RANGES of Barbie dolls such as 'The "I Can Be range was launched in 201X and comprises dolls with a number of different careers, meant to inspire children. The 'So In Style' range was launched and features new face moulds for African American dolls' - that sort of thing. I'd appreciate help from other barbie fans. This could then merge the article for 'Totally Hair Barbie' (best selling doll). A list of individual dolls would be absurd. Squitchtweak (talk) 14:35, 18 April 2018 (UTC)Squitchtweak

Semi-protected edit request on 6 September 2018

120.148.138.106 (talk) 06:53, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. NiciVampireHeart 07:15, 6 September 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 March 2019

Role Models Pandorafunk (talk) 20:45, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. – Þjarkur (talk) 21:15, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

Gender neutral Barbie line

Seems to be getting a lot of independant news coverage.

• https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/sep/25/barbie-maker-gender-neutral-dolls-release
• https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/09/25/barbie-manufacturer-mattel-unveils-gender-inclusive-dolls.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/arts/mattel-gender-neutral-dolls.html

There's other news sources reporting on this as well. I think there should be something about the doll line included in the article, but I'm not sure where the best place would be. No current section seems to fit, but I'm not sure this warrants its own section, either. Any ideas from other editors on what to do? Clovermoss (talk) 02:53, 26 September 2019 (UTC)

In the past I have argued that it isn't possible to mention every new Barbie doll release because there are so many and it runs into problems with WP:NOTNEWS, but this is interesting. It is worth pointing out that these dolls are not based on the Barbara Millicent Roberts persona, which is what most people think of as Barbie. The new range is called "Creatable World" and it seems to be a standalone range, ie it isn't part of the List of Barbie's friends and family. This is similar to the Rosa Parks Barbie which was launched in August 2019.[2] These dolls carry the Barbie branding, but they aren't really part of the Barbie family and friends range. It is difficult to know where these would fit in best.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 05:31, 26 September 2019 (UTC)

ianmacm: Do you think that there is enough independent coverage by reliable sources to warrant its own article, then? Clovermoss (talk) 00:57, 28 September 2019 (UTC)

I've been having a think about the best way to include dolls that are released under the Barbie brand name but are not related to the Barbara Millicent Roberts doll and her friends and family. On its own, the Creatable World range would have problems as a separate article, because it might be a very short stub class article. It might be possible to create a new article which looks at dolls that are made by Mattel but are not directly related to Barbie. This includes the Rosa Parks doll and the Role Model dolls.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 06:14, 28 September 2019 (UTC)

ianmacm Thought I'd give an update. I decided to be bold and create a new article, since news coverage is still covering it and the doll line appears to be notable. See Createable World if interested, I added a wikilink to this article. I think that's probably the best way to do it - if it isn't Barbie, but still notable, a wikilink in the see also section provides structure and relevance. Clovermoss (talk) 21:14, 4 October 2019 (UTC)

OK thanks, the new range is called "Creatable World" (not createable) so I have renamed the article title.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 04:40, 5 October 2019 (UTC)

Ban in Saudi Arabia

It seems according to this article, That the ban has been lifted, but the page here presents it as permanent and still ongoing. I will have a look for more article that support it being over as this one gives no date of the ban being lifted. 2001:8003:4028:AE00:7C06:8844:798A:AC97 (talk) 08:57, 15 December 2019 (UTC)

References

Thanks for pointing this out. It is a popular idea that people in the Middle East have been banned from buying Barbie dolls and are encouraged to buy alternatives such as Fulla or Sara and Dara dolls instead. I had a look at the Arab News source and it doesn't seem to say that the ban on buying Barbie dolls and accessories is absolute. In September 2003, it was reported that the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia) said that Barbie was a "Jewish" toy... offensive to Islam".[3] Nevertheless, it does appear that some people in Saudi Arabia have bought Barbie dolls and accessories despite the disapproval.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 11:16, 15 December 2019 (UTC)

Maybe just a comment that Saudi Arabia started a “temporary” ban or that it banned it in 2003 and it has since been lifted in the paragraph as it doesn’t properly represent the current situation. 121.221.139.224 (talk) 09:16, 16 December 2019 (UTC)