Sürdürülebilir Barbie? Plastik Fantezi ve Ekolojik Farkındalığın Kesişiminde Barbie

Year 2024, Issue: 62, 111 - 138, 30.12.2024

Melis Mulazimoglu

Abstract

Barbie adındaki oyuncak bebek 4-13 yaş aralığındaki kız çocukları için tasarlamıştır ancak Barbie yıllar içinde büyük bir popülariteye kavuşarak, hedef kitlesinin ve amacının ötesine geçmiştir. Günümüzde Barbie, kültür emperyalizmin parıltılı nesnesi, bir moda ikonu, arzu nesnesi, yaşam tarzı, maddeci-kültürel okumalara uygun bir metin, vb. gibi pek çok farklı kavrama dönüşerek, oyuncak bebekten fazlasına işaret etmektedir. Barbie çılgınlığı tüm popülaritesine rağmen, temsil ettiği tüketim toplumu normları, kapitalizmi meşrulaştırması, kız çocuklarına gerçek olmayan bir kimlik algısı özendirdiği için sıklıkla eleştirilmiştir. Bu eleştiriye son zamanlarda çevreye olan zararı da eklenmiştir. Oyuncak bebeğin hammaddesi olan plastik ile bebeğin üretim, satış ve pazarlama aşamasında kullanılan teknikler göz ününe alındığında, Barbie’nin karbon ayak izi (her bir 182 gram ağırlığındaki Barbie için 648 gram karbon salınımı mevcuttur) sanıldığı kadar masum bir pembe olmamakla beraber, azımsanamayacak kadar fazla bir toksik yapıya sahip olduğu ortaya çıkmaktadır. Bu durum, çağımızın en önemli sorunsalı olan iklim krizini olumsuz yönde etkilemesine rağmen Barbie’nin Çevreci Beşeri Bilimler ve Yeni Maddecilik gibi disiplinler açısından ele alınmasına son derece nadir rastlanmaktadır. O halde, Barbie’yi söylemsel ve maddeci yaklaşımlar
çerçevesinde farklı bir açıdan ele alınmasını gerektiren bu çalışmada şu gibi soruların cevapları aranacaktır: Plastik hayaller satan Barbie, iklim krizi farkındalığının neresinde durmaktadır? Barbie’nin plastik yapısının çevreye etkisi nedir? Sürdürülebilir Barbie mümkün müdür yoksa bu kapitalizmin “yeşil aklama” pratiği midir? Tüm bu sorular ışığında bu çalışma, Barbie’nin plastik yapısını ve tüketim kültürü tarafından “plastize” edilmiş farklı temsillerini sorgulayarak, çağımızın en büyük sorunsalı olan iklim krizine olan olumsuz etkilerini Çevreci Beşeri Bilimler ve Yeni Maddecilik öğretileri açısından tartışmayı hedeflemektedir.

Keywords

Barbie bebek, iklim krizi, plastik, karbon ayak izi, Yeni Maddeci Eleştiri

Sustainable Barbie? Barbie at the Intersection of Plastic Fantasy and Ecological Awareness

Abstract

Although first introduced as a doll designed for young girls aged between 4-13, Barbie has become more than that, transforming into a variety of meanings: a cultural text for Material Culture Studies, the glamorous product of the culture industry, a lifestyle, a fashion icon, an object of desire. Despite the popularity of Barbie-mania, the doll has often been harshly criticized for selling fake dreams to young girls about beauty and youth, misrepresenting female identity, legitimizing capitalist ideology and consumer culture norms about the self, society, and, recently, about the environment. It is claimed Barbie is harmful in many ways, but especially in terms of its effects upon the environment, where “pink” carbon emission equals “648 grams of carbon for every 182 grams of Barbie.” Today, the plastic toxicity of Barbie is a crucial factor in emphasizing its danger to human and non-human environments in direct and indirect ways. Despite several academic studies focusing on Barbie from feminist or semiotic perspectives, Eco-critical and New Materialist approaches to Barbie are quite rare. So, it is the intention of this study to configure Barbie on a new level between material and discursive practices that treat the doll both as a “thing” and as a “cultural text.” In other words, where does Barbie stand at the intersection of plastic fantasy and ecological awareness? How does the plastic matter of the doll function in a (social) environment? Is sustainable Barbie possible, or is it only a greenwashing of capitalism? This research, aiming to deconstruct the physical and symbolic plasticity of Barbie and its representations in consumer society with an Eco-critical and New Materialist awareness, centers on “Barbie footprint” as a contemporary ecological problem that leads to climate crisis and ecological degradation.

Keywords

Barbie, climate crisis, toxic plasticity, carbon footprint, New Materialism

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