Did your Barbies ever have sex? If so, how did you simulate sex?

"Yes. I just kind of bumped them together repeatedly though. I had a general idea of how sex worked, but the specifics were a total mystery to me."

-Maggie, 23, Caucasian pansexual female from The Bible Belt, USA

Were your Barbies ever in interracial relationships? What about same sex relationships? How did they act within these relationships?

"Yes and yes. I only had two boy Barbies so LESBIANS EVERYWHERE. I really didn't think anything of it at the time. I thought a lesbian was just someone who married their best friend and that sounded pretty cool."

-Maggie, 23, Caucasian pansexual female from the Bible Belt, USA

What kind of environment did your Barbies live in?

"Some lived in the half put together Dream House. One lived with the Power Rangers. One lived in the tub. Superhero Barbie lived up high on a shelf. Everyone else was either homeless or lived with the My Little Ponies" 

-Maggie, 23, Caucasian pansexual female from The Bible Belt, USA

Who did you play Barbie's with? How did you interact when you played?

"I only played Barbie when my friends came over, I was much more interested in the barbies. She was always the cooler barbie and I was a bit of a loser barbie."

-Erin, 19, Caucasian and Native American, heterosexual female from San Fransisco, USA

What careers did your Barbies have?

"I don't remember her having much of a career, she was mostly a teenager. I just really wanted to be a teenager at the time. It looked like lots of fun."

-Erin, 19, Caucasian and Native American, heterosexual female from San Fransisco, USA

What did your favorite Barbie clothes look like?

"I liked my weird clothes, like the skirt that turned my barbie into a mermaid or a fairy."

-Erin, 19, Caucasian and Native American, heterosexual female from San Fransisco, USA

How ethnically diverse were your barbies?

"Not very diverse. I only received barbies as gifts at birthday parties, I think when your parents invite over their friends to their 8-year-old's birthday party they just assume to get a white girl a white barbie."

-Erin, 19, Caucasian and Native American, heterosexual female from San Fransisco, USA

Tell us about your favorite Barbie dolls. What did they look like? What made them special?

"My favorite barbie had pink and blue hair, and sometimes fairy wings." 

-Erin, 19, Caucasian and Native American, heterosexual female from San Fransisco, USA

What occupation did your favorite Barbie doll have?

"My parents had bought me an airplane that came with a flight attendant Barbie but no pilot so I made her the pilot instead. Sometimes my Barbies were doctors, teachers, housewives or students." 

-Lorraine, 18, Hispanic heterosexual womyn from the United States

Did you ever play with imperfect dolls?

"We had several Barbies with dog-chewed hands and feet and glued on heads that couldn't turn anymore. We played with them just as if they weren't damaged. One couldn't wear the shoes because of how the foot was chewed, but we would just pretend she had shoes on. A broken doll was a small tragedy, but she would get carefully repaired by our dad as much as possible and cherished once more."


-Kathryn, 19, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Milwaukee, WI, USA