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Mondo
Mondo Barbie: An Anthology of Fiction & Poetry
Barbie is an American icon. But Barbie becomes a problem when the adult fantasy collides with the child's fantasy. All that misplaced Barbie angst of our youth, all the childhood conditioning, and the adult results are revealed at last in Mondo Barbie.
185 pages, Paperback
First published February 8, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 15, 2011
Someone must have given this to me. It's not something I'd normally look twice at. In any case, I read it and found it enormously amusing. Indicative of the impact that this book has had on the life of my family, the study of it inspired me to recommend to my niece that her Barbies be routinely disciplined. Seeing the wisdom of this advice, such a policy was immediately adopted.
See the Kirkus review appended.
See the Kirkus review appended.
January 26, 2010
A pop-culture anthology regarding everyone's favorite doll to revile, Barbie. Some of these stories were hilariously twisted.
I had Barbies growing up, and I wasn't very keen on them. I had an aunt who meant well and kept buying me Barbie paraphernalia long after it had even a remote sort of appeal. Her plasticky, forever-blonde hair and ridiculously slanted feet were always a thorn in my side.
I had Barbies growing up, and I wasn't very keen on them. I had an aunt who meant well and kept buying me Barbie paraphernalia long after it had even a remote sort of appeal. Her plasticky, forever-blonde hair and ridiculously slanted feet were always a thorn in my side.
July 31, 2023
All the current kerfluffle over Barbieheimer and the conservative meltdown over Barbie’s alleged wokeness reminded me that somewhere buried in my bookshelves is this 1993 anthology that collects short stories and poems about Barbie in some form or fashion. The whole point of the book is that Barbie is (and has always been) so much more than a toy. Just as there has been many iterations of Barbie (Malibu Barbie, Flight Attendant Barbie, etc), she’s also a feminist icon, a pop-culture phenomenon, a coming-of-age catalyst of sexual discovery and so much more. So of course I had to re-read it.
I’ve heard of a few of the contributors, but most are new to me. The stories and poems here cover a wide range of Barbie experiences and opinions, though a common theme is the contrast between her “perfect” plasticine status-symbol life and the messy complicated real world. There’s also lots of dismemberment, sexual drama (both hetero and LGBTQ) and “Ken has no dick” jokes. Sometimes Barbie is the character, sometimes she speaks to her owners, sometimes she is merely a catalyst for the plot. One SF story is a murder mystery on the moon that takes place amid a religious cult where members transform into Barbie-like people. Another recalls a traumatic childhood visit to a Mattel factory.
As with any anthology, the quality varies, but it’s one of those rare collections where the sum is more interesting than its parts. It all adds up to the inescapable truth that Barbie has been central to so many childhoods and sexual awakenings (whether you had a Barbie or not). Plenty of non-fiction books have been written about the Barbie pop-culture phenomenon, but these fictional stories get to the heart of the matter by taking us to the front lines with the people who came of age in a Barbie world. It also highlights how she has always been something of a sociopolitical lightning rod, especially as American society underwent its own sociopolitical upheavals – which also means the current hoo-ha over the Barbie film is neither new nor original.
DISCLAIMER: I haven’t seen the Barbie movie, and I have no plans to do so anytime soon.
BONUS TRACK: : My sister had some Barbies, and we usually combined them with my Steve Austin, GI Joe and Big Jim action figures. When she decided she’d outgrown them around age 14, my friend Steve and I took the townhouse, the camper van, the surf buggy, Big Jim’s Jeep and all the dolls, and staged an elaborate action sequence in the backyard that also involved fireworks and a can of gasoline. There were no survivors.
I’ve heard of a few of the contributors, but most are new to me. The stories and poems here cover a wide range of Barbie experiences and opinions, though a common theme is the contrast between her “perfect” plasticine status-symbol life and the messy complicated real world. There’s also lots of dismemberment, sexual drama (both hetero and LGBTQ) and “Ken has no dick” jokes. Sometimes Barbie is the character, sometimes she speaks to her owners, sometimes she is merely a catalyst for the plot. One SF story is a murder mystery on the moon that takes place amid a religious cult where members transform into Barbie-like people. Another recalls a traumatic childhood visit to a Mattel factory.
As with any anthology, the quality varies, but it’s one of those rare collections where the sum is more interesting than its parts. It all adds up to the inescapable truth that Barbie has been central to so many childhoods and sexual awakenings (whether you had a Barbie or not). Plenty of non-fiction books have been written about the Barbie pop-culture phenomenon, but these fictional stories get to the heart of the matter by taking us to the front lines with the people who came of age in a Barbie world. It also highlights how she has always been something of a sociopolitical lightning rod, especially as American society underwent its own sociopolitical upheavals – which also means the current hoo-ha over the Barbie film is neither new nor original.
DISCLAIMER: I haven’t seen the Barbie movie, and I have no plans to do so anytime soon.
BONUS TRACK: : My sister had some Barbies, and we usually combined them with my Steve Austin, GI Joe and Big Jim action figures. When she decided she’d outgrown them around age 14, my friend Steve and I took the townhouse, the camper van, the surf buggy, Big Jim’s Jeep and all the dolls, and staged an elaborate action sequence in the backyard that also involved fireworks and a can of gasoline. There were no survivors.
May 18, 2016
I received Mondo Barbie from a friend many years ago, and would pick it up every so often and read a story or poem in isolation but never sat down and dug into it. A week ago my kids found it and were looking at the cover and unique pink paper. I picked it up off the ground and read a single story idly while the kids played, as I always had before. But I found myself drawn to it more intensely than in the past and kept reading and reading, despite having three or four other books on my "currently reading" shelf.
These pieces show how warped and contradictory Barbie is and how warped and contradictory childhood is. Childhood innocence is skewered by the disturbing reality of violence, sadness, awareness, perversion, sexuality etc. Barbie is both sexualized (huge boobs, sex symbol) and asexual (no nipples or genitals). She is purported to be fake or inauthentic while she also is the nexus around which intense, formative, "real" moments occur. She is both generic and irreplaceable. She's so strange and so commonplace. She is beautiful and uncanny. It is all terribly fascinating.
I think my favorite is "The Barbie Murders" although I'm not sure it would have been as good had I not been primed by the themes in all the other stories. It has a lot to say about conformity as the "Barbie-impetus" rather than beauty, sexuality, or status. So interesting. So disturbing.
Some spoilers:
Her relationship with Ken is frequently satirized in this collection in bizarre ways but my favorite treatment of it is "Barbie Comes Out," in which Ken is trans and they are in a lesbian relationship together. In that one, Barbie slowly becomes less and less like a creepy, stiff automaton and more and more human. It has a memorable moment when her makeup becomes smudged and her whole face smears off!
These pieces show how warped and contradictory Barbie is and how warped and contradictory childhood is. Childhood innocence is skewered by the disturbing reality of violence, sadness, awareness, perversion, sexuality etc. Barbie is both sexualized (huge boobs, sex symbol) and asexual (no nipples or genitals). She is purported to be fake or inauthentic while she also is the nexus around which intense, formative, "real" moments occur. She is both generic and irreplaceable. She's so strange and so commonplace. She is beautiful and uncanny. It is all terribly fascinating.
I think my favorite is "The Barbie Murders" although I'm not sure it would have been as good had I not been primed by the themes in all the other stories. It has a lot to say about conformity as the "Barbie-impetus" rather than beauty, sexuality, or status. So interesting. So disturbing.
Some spoilers:
Her relationship with Ken is frequently satirized in this collection in bizarre ways but my favorite treatment of it is "Barbie Comes Out," in which Ken is trans and they are in a lesbian relationship together. In that one, Barbie slowly becomes less and less like a creepy, stiff automaton and more and more human. It has a memorable moment when her makeup becomes smudged and her whole face smears off!
April 4, 2019
Interesting concept but the works themselves are very hit-or-miss. On one hand you have brilliant commentary on the impact Barbie had on society and beauty standards, but the other hand features only a boy cumming on a doll.
August 17, 2022
Strange but enjoyed it alot
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews