Barbie and Ken the All-American Couple
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| Assignment Type | Term Paper |
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| Subject | English (composition, Etc.) |
| Academic Level | Undergraduate |
| Citation Style | N/A |
| Length | 4 pages |
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Star Wars Action Figures
As a child Star Wars action figures were the center of my world. They epitomized the strength I could aspire to and the heroic actions that awaited me in my life as a man. I loved that my future manhood had so many possibilities. I could be Yoda, a small, green, shapeless guy with the Force to be able to do anything including slay the scary armies of masked troupers (despite my mushy, fragile, green body) and of course Darth Vader. But more often than not I would, in my mind, be the masked and ominous figure of Darth Vader himself.
In retrospect Yoda probably represented more the kid I was at the time and Darth Vader the guy I wanted to be. Yoda, was like me, not too tough on the outside but capable of great things. Yoda told me that if I could find the Force I could conquer the sports teams I wasn’t good enough for, the cool kids group that I didn’t fit into, and the wisdom I knew I didn’t have. All this with my spindly little body.
Both Yoda and Darth Vader represented power and strength but it was not the friendly and vulnerable Yoda that drew me in. It was Darth Vader in all his impervious glory. He stood as a beacon of power that could not be touched by anyone. Completely impenetrable and untouchable beneath his cloak and terrifying black mask. He was tall, he looked strong and he always strode. His voice was inhuman which added to his invincibility. He never lingered in moments of uncertainty or wavered even when about to inflict brutality upon innocent and helpless victims. Everyone took Darth seriously and he was a leader. All those storm troopers, thousands, which looked up to him and obeyed his every command. And he had a cape and at the end of the day, if you had a cape, no matter how creepy and scary your breathing was, you were a hero. Yep, if that could be me the world was my oyster I thought.
Darth Vader was the hero’s father too. Although we don’t know it until the final movie scene in which Luke finds out and then must choose to kill his father anyway. This moved me and made me love and admire Darth even more. As a child I didn’t question the reason. But didn’t Darth Vader represent our fathers so well? Distant men; cold characters with whom we did not argue or play. They were the serious commanders of our homes and therefore the world. We looked up to them for what we thought was silent strength. My Darth Vader reinforced for me the image of the man I should become – a man like my father. Rigid and strong, but without any of the short green guy vulnerabilities of Yoda. No beseeching Yoda type characteristics pleading for a return to the light.
The icing on the cake was of course Darth Vader’s history so like my own. Although now a cold ruthless destroyer (destroyer, what an attractive word to my youth) he was once like me. An idealistic young Jedi knight who wanted to do good. But he grew up and became a man, as I would, and manly men were not like the idealistic Skywalker boys. His transformation from bad to good wasn’t entirely voluntary or premeditated either. Initially he was tricked into becoming the man that is Darth Vader and by then, by the time he realized what he had done it was too late. This I could see was what would happen to me as well when I grew from boy to man.
The way I played with my toys was always the same. They fought. They fought with fists, light sabers and sometimes words. Sometimes the good guys beat Darth and sometimes they could not overwhelm the storm troopers but it didn’t really matter who won or lost, it was how they played the game. As long as all fought brutally and to the death it was a good fight and worth the loss of life.
I didn’t have a princess Leah doll although there was undoubtedly one available. Not that I didn’t like her, she was beautiful and sweet and she had spunk, everything a girl should be. I didn’t have her for a couple of reasons; 1) it would have looked odd to my family and friends if I wanted a girl figurine and 2) there was no point. What would she do? Fighting a girl would have been wrong.
As an adult I wonder that this is what we present our boys with, these cold, hard characteristics that represent what it means to be a man. I wonder too if I might not have been happier if Yoda had commanded troupes instead of just a couple of plain human freedom fighters. What a disappointment my adult self would have been to me those long ago days. Soft penetrable skin, the capacity to feel love and loss. A soft, malleable, powerless, human being so in contrast to Darth.
Looking back and actually analyzing these figurines, what they represented and how I was expected (and wanted) to play with them is depressing in the present. If only I had gotten the princess Leah doll and had a conversation, or if I had created a different ending for Luke and his father. An ending that did not involve the complete diabolical severing of their relationship forever. What if Luke and his father went fishing? His father would have had to remove his armor for sure and maybe they could have hugged without all the capery and metal between them.
As a society we bizarrely create these unattainable stereotypes for our children to aspire to and yet, if we take apart that which we are ascribing as the goal for our children what do we see? We are telling them we want them to be lonely men who fight and are invulnerable and uncomfortably proportioned women who lovingly support their detached husbands. Who started all this I wonder? Was it originally intended as insidious and subversive propaganda aimed at preparing men for war and women for loneliness? Ironically we seem to have achieved success. The children of my generation have learnt the value of power, of strength and of advanced technology from our childhood toys. Because we have learnt that these are what matters we have failed in our familial relationships and succeeded in becoming the most technologically advanced and powerful people who ever lived. Mission accomplished.
Perhaps now is the time to turn our eyes to the future and design toys for our children that represent the lessons we have learnt from fighting and power. A gender neutral being that gives equal comfort and love to its boys and its girls. A toy that offers peaceful negotiation and compassion. Perhaps one with a shovel that will dig trees to create carbon stores for the environment. Chalk it up to human nature but sadly, I don’t think these toys would be big sellers. Boys and girls are naturally inclined to favor that to which they can aspire but never really be, happy figurines of gender stereotypes in loving family relationships.
As a child Star Wars action figures were the center of my world. They epitomized the strength I could aspire to and the heroic actions that awaited me in my life as a man. I loved that my future manhood had so many possibilities. I could be Yoda, a small, green, shapeless guy with the Force to be able to do anything including slay the scary armies of masked troupers (despite my mushy, fragile, green body) and of course Darth Vader. But more often than not I would, in my mind, be the masked and ominous figure of Darth Vader himself.
In retrospect Yoda probably represented more the kid I was at the time and Darth Vader the guy I wanted to be. Yoda, was like me, not too tough on the outside but capable of great things. Yoda told me that if I could find the Force I could conquer the sports teams I wasn’t good enough for, the cool kids group that I didn’t fit into, and the wisdom I knew I didn’t have. All this with my spindly little body.
Both Yoda and Darth Vader represented power and strength but it was not the friendly and vulnerable Yoda that drew me in. It was Darth Vader in all his impervious glory. He stood as a beacon of power that could not be touched by anyone. Completely impenetrable and untouchable beneath his cloak and terrifying black mask. He was tall, he looked strong and he always strode. His voice was inhuman which added to his invincibility. He never lingered in moments of uncertainty or wavered even when about to inflict brutality upon innocent and helpless victims. Everyone took Darth seriously and he was a leader. All those storm troopers, thousands, which looked up to him and obeyed his every command. And he had a cape and at the end of the day, if you had a cape, no matter how creepy and scary your breathing was, you were a hero. Yep, if that could be me the world was my oyster I thought.
Darth Vader was the hero’s father too. Although we don’t know it until the final movie scene in which Luke finds out and then must choose to kill his father anyway. This moved me and made me love and admire Darth even more. As a child I didn’t question the reason. But didn’t Darth Vader represent our fathers so well? Distant men; cold characters with whom we did not argue or play. They were the serious commanders of our homes and therefore the world. We looked up to them for what we thought was silent strength. My Darth Vader reinforced for me the image of the man I should become – a man like my father. Rigid and strong, but without any of the short green guy vulnerabilities of Yoda. No beseeching Yoda type characteristics pleading for a return to the light.
The icing on the cake was of course Darth Vader’s history so like my own. Although now a cold ruthless destroyer (destroyer, what an attractive word to my youth) he was once like me. An idealistic young Jedi knight who wanted to do good. But he grew up and became a man, as I would, and manly men were not like the idealistic Skywalker boys. His transformation from bad to good wasn’t entirely voluntary or premeditated either. Initially he was tricked into becoming the man that is Darth Vader and by then, by the time he realized what he had done it was too late. This I could see was what would happen to me as well when I grew from boy to man.
The way I played with my toys was always the same. They fought. They fought with fists, light sabers and sometimes words. Sometimes the good guys beat Darth and sometimes they could not overwhelm the storm troopers but it didn’t really matter who won or lost, it was how they played the game. As long as all fought brutally and to the death it was a good fight and worth the loss of life.
I didn’t have a princess Leah doll although there was undoubtedly one available. Not that I didn’t like her, she was beautiful and sweet and she had spunk, everything a girl should be. I didn’t have her for a couple of reasons; 1) it would have looked odd to my family and friends if I wanted a girl figurine and 2) there was no point. What would she do? Fighting a girl would have been wrong.
As an adult I wonder that this is what we present our boys with, these cold, hard characteristics that represent what it means to be a man. I wonder too if I might not have been happier if Yoda had commanded troupes instead of just a couple of plain human freedom fighters. What a disappointment my adult self would have been to me those long ago days. Soft penetrable skin, the capacity to feel love and loss. A soft, malleable, powerless, human being so in contrast to Darth.
Looking back and actually analyzing these figurines, what they represented and how I was expected (and wanted) to play with them is depressing in the present. If only I had gotten the princess Leah doll and had a conversation, or if I had created a different ending for Luke and his father. An ending that did not involve the complete diabolical severing of their relationship forever. What if Luke and his father went fishing? His father would have had to remove his armor for sure and maybe they could have hugged without all the capery and metal between them.
As a society we bizarrely create these unattainable stereotypes for our children to aspire to and yet, if we take apart that which we are ascribing as the goal for our children what do we see? We are telling them we want them to be lonely men who fight and are invulnerable and uncomfortably proportioned women who lovingly support their detached husbands. Who started all this I wonder? Was it originally intended as insidious and subversive propaganda aimed at preparing men for war and women for loneliness? Ironically we seem to have achieved success. The children of my generation have learnt the value of power, of strength and of advanced technology from our childhood toys. Because we have learnt that these are what matters we have failed in our familial relationships and succeeded in becoming the most technologically advanced and powerful people who ever lived. Mission accomplished.
Perhaps now is the time to turn our eyes to the future and design toys for our children that represent the lessons we have learnt from fighting and power. A gender neutral being that gives equal comfort and love to its boys and its girls. A toy that offers peaceful negotiation and compassion. Perhaps one with a shovel that will dig trees to create carbon stores for the environment. Chalk it up to human nature but sadly, I don’t think these toys would be big sellers. Boys and girls are naturally inclined to favor that to which they can aspire but never really be, happy figurines of gender stereotypes in loving family relationships.