Like a lot of people, I saw the Barbie movie last weekend. And like a lot of those people, I can’t get it out of my head. If you, too, are finding your thoughts especially pink lately, here are some books to help you explore our mutual new hyperfixation!
Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion From the New Look to Millennial Pink by Véronique Hyland is for if you loved the costumes. Not everyone participates in painting, literature, or film. But there is no “opting out” of fashion. And yet, fashion is still seen as superficial and trivial, and only the finest of couture is considered as art. Hyland argues that fashion is a key that unlocks questions of power, sexuality, and class, taps into history, and sends signals to the world around us. Clothes means something–even if you’re “just” wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Style offers clues about everything from class to which in-group we belong to. Bad Feminist for fashion, Dress Code takes aim at the institutions within the fashion industry while reminding us of the importance of dress and what it means for self-presentation. Everything–from societal changes to the progress (or lack thereof) of women’s rights to the hidden motivations behind what we choose to wear to align ourselves with a particular social group–can be tracked through clothing. Get it in print, as an ebook on OverDrive, as an audiobook on OverDrive, as an ebook on Hoopla, or as an audiobook on Hoopla.
Believe Me: How Trusting Women can Change the World by Jessica Valenti is for if you really connected to how off-putting Barbie found the attention she got in the human world. The most infamous abusers in modern American history are being outed as women speak up to publicly expose behavior that was previously only whispered about — and it’s both making an impact, and sparking a backlash. From the leading, agenda-setting feminist editors of Yes Means Yes, Believe Me brings readers into the evolving landscape of the movement against sexual violence, and outlines how trusting women is the critical foundation for future progress. In Believe Me, contributors ask and answer the crucial question: What would happen if we didn’t just believe women, but acted as though they matter? If we take women’s experiences of online harassment seriously, it will transform the internet. If we listen to and center survivors, we could revolutionize our systems of justice. If we believe Black women when they talk about pain, we will save countless lives. Get it in print at the library.
Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her by Robin Gerber is for if you really want to know more about Rhea Perlman’s character in the movie. This is the remarkable true story of the world’s most famous toy and the woman who created her. It is a fascinating account of how one visionary woman and her product changed an industry and sparked a lasting debate about women’s roles. At once a business book, a colorful portrait of an extraordinary female entrepreneur, and a breathtaking look at a cultural phenomenon, Barbie and Ruth is a must read for anyone who ever owned a Barbie doll—a book Publishers Weekly calls, “a stirring biography…a fine study of success and resilience.” You can read it in print, on OverDrive, or on Hoopla.
