Barbie gets sexed! Is She Going to Hell? Are we? Free Dating, Singles and Personals

Barbie gets sexed! Is She Going to Hell? Are we? Posted: 12/18/2008 6:54:05 PM
Barbie may not exactly fit into one of TKO’s categories of artifacts, because the situations of toys, along with art, may not be as easily quantified and qualified as the situations of other artisanal artifacts. Artifacts “remake human relations quickly” (TKO, p. 36). The artisanal category contains tools that are intricately linked to our human condition, needs, and ease. Human artifacts are self-explanatory. Language artifacts are those that make sense of artisanal artifacts, and inform many of our relational bridges. For instance, if we called Barbie a doorstop instead of a toy she could be put to better use. Artisanal artifacts and human artifacts are relatively straightforward objects, as are toys and art – or are they? A wheel is not a wheel unless we can name it or convey its usefulness. It does not exist until a human invents it. Language as an artifact is pivotal to how we come to know things and connect with people. How would Rachael or Lucy know what a Barbie is unless this is communicated in some way? All artifacts, human, artisanal, and language, exist only in conjunction with and to each other, and are continually formed and reformed by each other. Artifacts weave a web of interactions in which none can exist separately, and the existence and acts of each can effect and affect the others. Barbie is integral, but not yet categorized. As artisanal objects, such as a doorstop, a Barbie, or a Barbiestop, form and re-form us through their creation and use, these artifacts fall into three general categories (TKO, p. 40-43). Some form or extend the human body rather directly, as in the case of a paint roller used to extend an arm. This is the most concrete illustration of Scarry’s act of projection between subject and object (TKO, p. 4). Barbie does not fit into this category easily, although this may be where some toys could possibly fit. For me, though, given the current popularity of textured paint surfaces, this could be a good use for her. Faux finish via plastic Barbie hair. But to use PaintBarbie would be an act of art, about which I will talk later. The second category has less direct connection to body functions, as in, for example, a rolling wheel in place of a walking foot. The third category of artisanal artifacts is the one in which more independent artifacts act as a substitute for a body part or function, such as the lens of a telescope or a bell used to signify dinner time. Machines are combinations of the three artifacts named above. Alas, poor Barbie doesn’t quite fit. Her proportions aren’t right….