Barbie Girl

So we have all these traditional days at work, where we are expected to deck up in fancy clothes. Now, being the GURL that I am, I LOVE these inane occasions since it gives me a chance to dress up in the Indian Barbie Doll fashion, complete with matching nail paints and hairbands. But speaking of Barbie Dolls, I think girls are conditioned to be dolls, in any circumstances, be it at home, at school or at work.

We avoid tough decisions. Despite all the brouhaha over women empowerment or independence, the truth is most of us would instinctively and happily let other people decide on our behalf: be it the father, a friend, a boyfriend, a boss or the husband. Yes, we would analyze the situation threadbare, evaluate all the pros and cons, provide our honest and balanced feedback, but when it comes to taking a call, we would gladly hand over the mantle to someone else. At least I know I do, and until the father or the boss FORCES me to CHOOSE, I remain the indecisive Barbie Girl…

We enjoy being ornamental. You have heard this before and you will hear it again: Bollywood actresses screeching out aloud that they want meatier roles, they want to act in women-oriented movies and they are not just a prop playing eye candy to middle-aged heroes. But being a girl, I can vouch for the fact that to a certain extent, we ENJOY being considered a crowd-puller: not just in movies, but in professional sports, politics or the corporate world. Let’s face it, no matter how much we deny it, we would rather be a Hina Rabbani Khar than a Mayawati. As shallow as it sounds, while we don’t mind working hard, we are also not against using a bit of glamour to make our work easier. Personally, I would rather put my smile to good use and get things done, than beat myself over a macro I can’t understand…

We are strong. As much as we like to PRETEND being the frail, helpless damsel in distress, we have more strength than we like to admit. We can take care of ourselves perfectly well, but it’s just that we don’t want to. There is an Erin Brockovich in all of us, but we would rather keep her hidden. Personally, while I enjoy my Barbie Doll existence in my own Barbie world, I am infinitely more fascinated by the on-again-off-again equation she shares with Ken.

We are secretly charmed by the Barbie Girl syndrome, as much as we profess to look down upon her…