post number seven: craig baldwin week

My blog will concern BLO... the Barbie Liberation Organization.

WHAT DO THEY DO?
In the late 80s and early 90s the BLO would procure Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls that featured voice boxes activated by a button or a pull string and they would replace the doll's voice box with the other's voice box. So a Barbie doll would feature a saying such as "Vengeance is mine!" or "Locked and loaded" and a G.I. Joe would say such things as "I can't wait to plan my wedding!" or "I love shopping!" They would then put the doll back into their appropriate packaging and secretly return them onto store shelves hoping that a parent would purchase it for their child.

WHAT'S THE PURPOSE?
The reasoning for all of this effort is to make a social commentary about sex relations in the world. They are trying to question the stereotypes that exist concerning boys and girls. They don't agree with the fact that boy's toys are always very aggressive and masculine and that girl's toys are feminine. What is wrong with a girl being able to play with a G.I. Joe figure or a boy playing with a Barbie? Not to mention what each doll entails. For G.I. Joe we see ridiculously aggressive men of action, which is nothing like the average man and for Barbie we have a female character who only concerns herself with shopping, money, and modeling, which for some could be considered rather degrading to women. Such a stereotype speaks a message to girls that that is what they should grow up to be instead of such professions as a doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc.

BENEFITS?
BLO claims that there are many other benefits for all of their efforts. When initially procuring the dolls they do not steal them, they do purchase them, so because they are re-shelving the dolls and allowing them to be sold a second time they are actually helping out the economy. If a doll is purchased twice then there is twice the profit. However some might question that logic considering most people I'm sure immediately tried to return them and get their money back which would eliminate the secondhand profit. They also claim a benefit is that they consumer is getting a better product. That would be their own opinion though because I'm sure many families did not appreciate the alteration made to the doll even if they don't necessarily believe in the stereotypes being created by the toys. They simply just want to by a product without having it tampered with. Lastly they say a benefit is that they get their message heard, which is a definite benefit. This is because they would leave a label on the back of the doll with the organization's name to make it known who made the change.