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Sarah Haney is a Denver based artist and photographer who has managed to capture the “Real Barbie”. The Artist Statement reads:

“On the surface, Barbie appears perfect. She’s beautiful, has great clothes, several good careers, and a perpetual smile on her face. As a child, I was always bothered by that smile- I put her through any number of tragedies, but no matter what befell her, she kept that fixed little smirk. As an adult, thinking about that fixed expression of pleasure made me start to think about what she might be hiding behind the façade of perfection after all, how great could life really be for a woman who clearly has an eating disorder, an addiction to plastic surgery, and nothing between her ears? My photographs portray the dark side of life in the Dream House: Barbie’s obsession with her body, Ken’s quest for sexual gratification, all the dirty little secrets they attempt to hide as they present themselves as icons of the American Dream….”

I have posted four of my favorites here, but there are many more on her website www.sarahhaney.com.

"EPT Barbie"

"Stage Mom Barbie"

  

"Inmate Barbie"

The true title to this post should be “MJ Misses the Boat…And the Dock…”. Just last week I scolded Holly because while playing dolls, her storyline took a sinister twist: “Doll A took photos of Doll B in the shower and was blackmailing her”. It didn’t occur to me I should have stopped to take photos for an art exhibit ! Wait, I can go further than that…Many moons ago, while my friends and I took our Barbies through the treacherous terrain of our parent’s gardens, we had to be ever vigilant and guarded against sneak attacks from the neighborhood boys G.I Joe’s. They once captured my Barbie camper for a full week before we were able to A-Team our way into finding it and getting it back. Who knows what Barbie and her gal pals were subjected to at the hands of that “Kung Foo Grip” ! And in my early teens, not quite yet willing to part with my three-story Pepto-pink dream house (with elevator!), Barbie threw all kinds of parties and nonsense. Not once did any of us think to capture any of it on film. Blah.

For the Finale, I saved my personal favorite, “Binge and Purge Barbie”…..

We all knew !!!!!