Barbie's career: From the fashion designer to astronautin in Strünkede Castle!

Barbie's career: From the fashion designer to astronautin in Strünkede Castle!

in the Strünkede Castle in Herne opens the fascinating hiking exhibition on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at 3 p.m. entitled "Busy Girl - Barbie makes a career". The exhibition will address the development of Barbie from the 1950s to the present day and is part of a more extensive examination of the professional and living environment of women since the 1960s. Admission to the opening debate is free and no registrations are required.

The curators Bettina Dorfmann and Karin Schrey designed this exhibition, which noted how Barbie acted over the years as a model and witness to the professional development of women. The concept of this exhibition is reflected in Barbies, which ranges from fashion designer to astronautin. In addition to a variety of barbies, the exhibition will also present various items of clothing, living and working rooms as well as numerous accessories that illustrate the change in the understanding of roles.

The evolution of the play doll

Barbie was launched in 1959 by Ruth Handler, co -founder of Mattel. The aim was to offer girls a real picture of professional life. Instead of reducing her to the role of the mother, this doll made it possible to explore different professions and thus develop your own career ideas. Since her introduction, Barbie has practiced over 200 professions, including Astronautin and CEO, a fact that shows the diversity in her career selection.

ruth Handler developed Barbie, inspired by her daughter Barbara's style of play, who treated tag dolls such as working adults. Even if Barbie is often reduced and controversial to her external appearance today, it has gained in importance, especially with regard to diversity and body positive. These developments are clearly evident in the current exhibition, which can be seen in Strünkede Castle from November 7th to May 18th

social changes in the focus

The opening of the exhibition on March 9, 2025 takes place in a special context. She not only reflects barbies evolutionary career, but also the social change that she can see. The era in which Barbie was a fashion designer has changed into an age in which she finally also travels as an astronaut in space. This illustrates the changing job profiles and the changed understanding of roles in our society.

The curator Bettina Dorfmann, who has the world's largest barbie doll collection with 18,500 copies, and her colleague designed the exhibition so that she both awakens nostalgia and stimulates thinking. At a time when personal identity and social beauty ideals are in focus, the exhibition will be an important place to reflect on role models and to stimulate discussions.

In addition, the current film adaptation of Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, who is known for her feminist perspective, will continue to fuel the discussion about Barbie's influence on the self -image of girls. It is planned that the film addresses the challenges that are based on this toy icon with humorous but also darker tones. Gerwig wants to represent Barbie not only as a brand, but as a multi -layered figure, which does justice to the zeitgeist.

The exhibition and the film will help to look at the complex relationship between girls to Barbie and their life plans.