Dear Barbie, the younger me,

Dear Barbie, the younger me,

Ever since you were a little girl, you’ve been facing the brutality of this society. It was designed to inflict you by imposing unrealistic and constrictive standards, and those are all mercilessly bestowed upon you. They took away your voice, they zipped it, because they think that it doesn’t suit you, and it wouldn’t make you the modest lady that they aspire you to be.

They kept telling you what to do and what you shouldn't. They treated you like a dead human — you were alive but they acted as if your soul was dead; as if it wasn’t yours to claim, and as if it was their body and their soul to control.

“You are a woman, you shouldn’t get involved with men’s works”

“Don’t play with toy guns, that’s just for boys”

And these hindered you from expressing yourself, and you are not allowed to oppose it nor even to say something because that would make you less of a ‘demure little girl’. Once you speak up, they would invalidate your emotion; because they thought that it is just NOTHING to make it something big.

But instead of letting you play what you preferred and giving you the freedom to explore, they gave you a baby doll. A doll that subtly renders you an early preparation for a maternal task.

Sure, they gave you an opportunity to be free — but merely within the house and do maternal chores. But hey Barbie, have you asked yourself if there was one time that you thought about becoming another version of yourself aside from doing chores? Because Barbie, the adult me, remembered that you've always wanted to live in a big city, wearing your fancy and glamorous clothing just like any other successful Barbie whom you grew up watching.

As you grow old, the bricks of the standards get firm and stronger for you, and the bridge is being complex to run and surpass, debris is scattered all over the ground, and the skies are turning into gloom. Then, there’s a giant black shadow that shows up, and as you keep running and running to transcend towards your boundless path, the giant is eager to chase and confine you to your box.

And then one time, you woke up feeling a sense of emptiness — the exhaustion of running as fast as you can for consecutive countless days, and years. Because you thought that even if you ran away from the giant shadow, and despite trying so hard to fit in with the society that doesn't see your value, you would never be enough. Do you wonder what happened? You lost your spark, to do the things you've aspired and enjoyed, BEFORE. You doubted yourself, you questioned your existence — "What was I made for?".

Hey, I have something to tell you, we both know that since you were a kid, you have always wanted to play with Barbie dolls. You wanted to be like them and be one of the 12 dancing Princess Barbie, in the movie. You loved to comb your Barbie doll’s shiny and blonde long straight hair with a very small and cute hair brush made for her. But do you know why Barbie was made? So that you could have something to be an inspiration because she’s an emblem for little girls and for every woman that you, and them, can be more.

Another thing, I want to share with you is the movie I watched two days ago, her name is Barbie — the stereotypical Barbie you had. She’s gorgeous, amazing, and talented, and just like you NOW, she lost her spark, she thought that she wasn’t pretty anymore just because she did not conform to the beauty standards. But then I realized that the Barbie I saw in the film was just like any other lady I pass by, she is you, she is me, and she is every woman in this world who’s struggling to fit themselves with society’s standards.

Barbie was with you in your childhood, and now, she represents OUR womanhood.

She validated our emotions as well, she taught me that it is okay to be sad and to feel lost along the way. She also taught me to embrace our femininity, and not let anyone and the standards endowed upon us hinder us from unleashing our power. Instead, she encouraged me to find my voice as a woman who is seen as a minority. Then, with that, we’ll use it to oppose and fight the rigged system that oppresses you and me, because we are more than the beauty standards, we are more than the notion that our role is merely for maternal jobs. However, it is still fine to be a Mom, because women should have the right to live and make their own choices. Our Mother is still Barbie. Remember, we are females and we are limitless.

And the last realization I would leave to you is that, it’s still okay if you didn’t end up being someone who we both dreamed of becoming because we could still be Barbie even if we're just an ordinary woman who tries hard every single day, we can be anything who we aspire to become. 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱.

Love,

Your 23 years old self