I worked for The Body Shop while Anita Roddick was still alive, (Anita, much like Barbie, is not without controversy, but much less so than what Barbie became post-Ruth Handler, but anyway) I was drawn to the company’s products in high school, because they were high quality and because they did embraced political causes and ideals that aligned with my small town radical beliefs.
Later, when I was working for the company I loved that they provided low cost, high quality health insurance to even part time employees, additional benefits like paid time off for activism work, free mental health coverage (keep in mind this was a pre-“Obamacare” world where that was uncommon, and a real sense that even the lowest rung employees actually mattered.
No one at White Oaks Mall paid the store much attention until Ruby. The Love YOUR Body’s Campaign, conceived by Anita and executed by advertising powerhouse, Chiat\Day (Their first major ad campaign was the Apple “1984” commercial). The first storefront posters were groundbreaking as they featured women of all sized and ages, women with vitiligo, acne, scars, and all manner of things that would preclude their appearance in ads for a store selling beauty and skincare products. And more than a decade before Dove brought it to the mainstream. And then came Ruby.
She was a Rubenesque, nude, redheaded, Barbie Style doll reclining on a deep green fainting couch with the slogan “There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do.” People lost their minds. Suddenly I am getting contacted by the local affiliates of all 3 major television networks, mall management, 2 newspapers and multiple radio stations all wanting comment or change to the display poster all because of a naked, doll with the implication of being female. And I loved her.
I was basically ambushed by the local NBC affiliate before opening demanding comment on this “obscene” doll in a storefront display in the second smallest Body Shop Location in the United States. I somehow managed to remain calm but assertive during the interview, and managed to kill the story by taking the reporter and cameraman three stores down where Victoria’s Secret had similarly, if not larger posters, debuting their new line of either sheer or “comfortable” lace bras. Posters that featured actual human women, including more than one of the 8 aforementioned supermodels, wearing bras that allowed every mall shopper the opportunity to see their nipples.
After that it was a a constant stream of phone calls to corporate about their strategy to deal with an ever changing list of reasons a naked “Barbie” with curves was on display in a store, slightly larger than my parent’s walk in closet. We stood firm, other stores made Ruby swimsuits, others took the posters down entirely replacing them with a solid black poster with with type stating “censored by mall management”. Victoria’s Secret were never asked to change a thing.
It wasn’t for almost another decade before I learned that Les Wexner owned Limited Brands. Travel back to the mid 1990’s and every mall had a Limited, Express, Limited Too, Limited Men, Abercrombie & Fitch, White Barn Candle Company, Bath and Bodyworks, and Victoria’s Secret. Nearly a third to a half of non-anchor stores were Limited Brands. Maybe that’s part of the reason Victoria’s Secret was never asked to change a single window display.
Oh, and Les Wexner’s empire? It happened to be managed by a guy named Jeffrey Epstein. Maybe that had something to do with it too. In 2021 shareholders in L Brands filed a court complaint stating that Wexner, among others in the company, "entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment". I heard rumblings if this not only from fellow mall employees, but employees at various locations within headquarters in and around Columbus Ohio during my years living there.
It’s funny what people take umbrage with at the time, and what is truly outrageous 25, 35, or 70 years later.
I played with Barbie but Ken was mostly either thrown under the bed, off on an unspecified “business trip”, or was there to redecorate, replace the outlet in the kitchen of my second hand Dream House, or was making drinks and serving popsicles to Barbie and her friends while they discussed the stress of their high powered careers as astronauts, doctors, scientists, ballerinas, and President. They also talked about how scratchy and uncomfortable their fancy outfits were.
I don’t know if that would make my second wave Fore-Mothers proud or appalled.
Enjoying the insights, and the tales told here. I'm seeing BARBIE this week. The one thing I don't wish washed over, with no fault of anyone, is that Greta's first "directed" film is NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS which she made with my friend Joe Swanberg. I think the project might be a bit complicated for them to talk about now (and that's nonsensical) but it is what it is — a great movie (NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS). Shoot me a note Nikki; I'm all the way in Arizona badlands..
I worked for The Body Shop while Anita Roddick was still alive, (Anita, much like Barbie, is not without controversy, but much less so than what Barbie became post-Ruth Handler, but anyway) I was drawn to the company’s products in high school, because they were high quality and because they did embraced political causes and ideals that aligned with my small town radical beliefs.
Later, when I was working for the company I loved that they provided low cost, high quality health insurance to even part time employees, additional benefits like paid time off for activism work, free mental health coverage (keep in mind this was a pre-“Obamacare” world where that was uncommon, and a real sense that even the lowest rung employees actually mattered.
No one at White Oaks Mall paid the store much attention until Ruby. The Love YOUR Body’s Campaign, conceived by Anita and executed by advertising powerhouse, Chiat\Day (Their first major ad campaign was the Apple “1984” commercial). The first storefront posters were groundbreaking as they featured women of all sized and ages, women with vitiligo, acne, scars, and all manner of things that would preclude their appearance in ads for a store selling beauty and skincare products. And more than a decade before Dove brought it to the mainstream. And then came Ruby.
She was a Rubenesque, nude, redheaded, Barbie Style doll reclining on a deep green fainting couch with the slogan “There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do.” People lost their minds. Suddenly I am getting contacted by the local affiliates of all 3 major television networks, mall management, 2 newspapers and multiple radio stations all wanting comment or change to the display poster all because of a naked, doll with the implication of being female. And I loved her.
I was basically ambushed by the local NBC affiliate before opening demanding comment on this “obscene” doll in a storefront display in the second smallest Body Shop Location in the United States. I somehow managed to remain calm but assertive during the interview, and managed to kill the story by taking the reporter and cameraman three stores down where Victoria’s Secret had similarly, if not larger posters, debuting their new line of either sheer or “comfortable” lace bras. Posters that featured actual human women, including more than one of the 8 aforementioned supermodels, wearing bras that allowed every mall shopper the opportunity to see their nipples.
After that it was a a constant stream of phone calls to corporate about their strategy to deal with an ever changing list of reasons a naked “Barbie” with curves was on display in a store, slightly larger than my parent’s walk in closet. We stood firm, other stores made Ruby swimsuits, others took the posters down entirely replacing them with a solid black poster with with type stating “censored by mall management”. Victoria’s Secret were never asked to change a thing.
It wasn’t for almost another decade before I learned that Les Wexner owned Limited Brands. Travel back to the mid 1990’s and every mall had a Limited, Express, Limited Too, Limited Men, Abercrombie & Fitch, White Barn Candle Company, Bath and Bodyworks, and Victoria’s Secret. Nearly a third to a half of non-anchor stores were Limited Brands. Maybe that’s part of the reason Victoria’s Secret was never asked to change a single window display.
Oh, and Les Wexner’s empire? It happened to be managed by a guy named Jeffrey Epstein. Maybe that had something to do with it too. In 2021 shareholders in L Brands filed a court complaint stating that Wexner, among others in the company, "entrenched culture of misogyny, bullying and harassment". I heard rumblings if this not only from fellow mall employees, but employees at various locations within headquarters in and around Columbus Ohio during my years living there.
It’s funny what people take umbrage with at the time, and what is truly outrageous 25, 35, or 70 years later.
I played with Barbie but Ken was mostly either thrown under the bed, off on an unspecified “business trip”, or was there to redecorate, replace the outlet in the kitchen of my second hand Dream House, or was making drinks and serving popsicles to Barbie and her friends while they discussed the stress of their high powered careers as astronauts, doctors, scientists, ballerinas, and President. They also talked about how scratchy and uncomfortable their fancy outfits were.
I don’t know if that would make my second wave Fore-Mothers proud or appalled.
Enjoying the insights, and the tales told here. I'm seeing BARBIE this week. The one thing I don't wish washed over, with no fault of anyone, is that Greta's first "directed" film is NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS which she made with my friend Joe Swanberg. I think the project might be a bit complicated for them to talk about now (and that's nonsensical) but it is what it is — a great movie (NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS). Shoot me a note Nikki; I'm all the way in Arizona badlands..
Another amazingly written story, Nikki. Your voice is necessary.