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Diachronic Construction of Education Relations between Dolls and Girls

Author: ChengYongZuo
Tutor: TanBin
School: Capital Normal University
Course: Principles of Education
Keywords: doll Barbie girls educational relation
CLC: G40
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2011
Downloads: 61
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Abstract

The educational relation between the dolls and girls appears to be natural and logical. However, inspired by "the problem in a different perspective" in sociology, the educational relationship between the dolls and girls is always in a diachronic changes The change of the shape of the dolls in different periods, the change of the expectation for the women’s social image, the change of the educational relationship between dolls and girls, all the above constitute our knowledge about the educational relationship between dolls and girls-discursive formation. This knowledge (discursive formation) also witnessed the change of women’s living circumstances under different social backgrounds. Specifically, in this matter, sociology of education need to ask is, what kind of diachronic changes the educational relationship between dolls and girls have experienced? What kind of social operating condition has constructed the relationship among girls, dolls and education in different periods, and how these relationships shaped our educational knowledge (discursive formation) about women and girls? How do these different words argue with each other? According to the above idea, this paper starts from the perspective of Foucault’s Archaeology of knowledge, and puts the change of educational between dolls and girls into the vision of social change. With Barbie as the center, I describe the historical construction of educational relationship between dolls and girls from three periods of before Barbie, Barbie period and after Barbie.(1) The relation of doll and girls can be found in the myth. It may be the primitive worship for reproduction that first established the pure, natural reproductive relations between dolls and girls. The educational relationship of doll and girls was first established in the Middle Ages-a doll can cultivate the girl’s quiet quality, trying to use the girl’s quiet quality to resist temptation from the snake and Eve’s original sin. Renaissance humanists began to question this established educational relations based on religious asceticism, they think that the doll will fool the girl. There were more debate on the educational function of the doll, mainly for two opposing ideas:a doll was a item having no any thinking; the girl should not be accompanied by the death of the items,like the doll; the other people thought dolls could be used to develop girl’s kindness. During the Enlightenment, thinkers, represented by Rousseau began to construct a moral relationship between the doll and the girl, attempting to use the doll to explore women’s virtuous qualities. With the rise of the popular education, the establishment of the capitalist system, the educational relations between the doll and the girls experienced the opposition once again, mainly from the perspective of the work ethic to prove that the doll made girls become lazy and stupid.(2) The appearance of Barbie dolls turned out to be a fracture of the educational relation between the doll and girls. Barbie’s image broke the girls’previous single-image of poor design, not only highlight and build a women’s body image and youthful vitality, but stimulate the girl’s female consciousness. With the combination of women’s liberation and feminist discourse, Barbie dolls construct the new role of women:fashion, equality, independence, brilliant career, dispelling the previous emphasized quiet, well-behaved, loving image of women. On the other hand, Barbie’s exaggerated building of female features, meeting the makeup of men have also been caused many question from feminist:Barbie doll is the liberation of women? Or other constraints? Barbie is the manifestation of feminine traits? Or is another stereotype of women?(3) Bolls that appeared after Barbie, displayed the diverse and even chaotic trend. The educational relation between dolls and girls becomes more and more complex. After the criticism toward Barbie dolls from feminist, people then discuss equality and emancipation of women again. On the other hand, people show a lot of concern on the feminist consciousness displayed by the Barbie doll.

Diachronic Construction of Education Relations between Dolls and Girls

Abstract

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