Literature, Cultural and Media Studies

What is the significance of Barbie’s journey from toy aisles to screens? Barbie in the Media offers a groundbreaking exploration of Barbie as a transmedia phenomenon. In examining the brand’s multifaceted media presence, this volume’s chapters consider both Mattel’s corporate storytelling about and fans’ reinterpretations of the iconic doll. Collectively, they reveal that these mediated negotiations of Barbie reflect and contribute to broader discourses about gender and identity in evolving sociopolitical contexts—inscribing the doll with ever-changing (and often conflicting) anxieties and dreams. These render the brand’s media presence a fascinating site of contested meaning, worthy of the sustained critique that Barbie in the Media offers readers.