Notes on starting out as a teen feminist.

"Barbie Eat A Sandwich" // Care Bears on Fire

I'm very much interested in this 2009 music video by the band Care Bears on Fire because it is a perfect example of teen feminism at its finest done WRONG. Indeed, the message of this song isn't really 100% positive considering some girls simply are blonde and like to wear pink, and there's really no need to criticize them for that (Elle Woods, hello!). But I like that the members of this band are young girls (their lead singer is still in braces here) who are angry about societal standards of beauty. It’s rough going through the initial anger that sets in during tween years for girls who do stray from those standards, and it's actually awesome that this song exists when we take into account how incredibly emblematic the phrase “Barbie eat a sandwich” is of that phase. But if these girls were a bit years older (they are now, actually, check out their new band Claire's Diary!), the message of this song should have really been this:

“Barbie, you should eat a sandwich if you want to, but it’s your call. I’m not assuming that you have an eating disorder just because you are thin, but I, for one, fucking love sandwiches, so we can still go shopping, just let me finish this first.”

-Leah