Female Empowerment. Barbie and Representations of Black Women
Abstract
This paper originates from a master’s thesis, recognized for its investigation into the realm of toys, and subsequently presented at the ITRA 2023 conference. It delves into the dynamics between children, the adult world, and empowerment. The analytical framework employed encompasses the representational and compositional metafunctions as delineated in Kress and van Leeuwen’s seminal work, Grammar of Visual Design (1996, 2006), as well as the Transitivity System within the ideational metafunction of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (1978, 1985). Specifically, the present investigation focuses on examining the packaging of a Black Barbie doll through a qualitative-interpretivist lens, aiming to unveil ethnic representations within the realm of fashion dolls over the past decade. The results point to a representation of an empowered Black woman through Barbie, coupled with the integration of more adaptable kinetic attributes in the design of this doll.
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