Barbie and the Bible
Playing with Pop Culture, Gender, and Theology
Barbie and the Bible
Playing with Pop Culture, Gender, and Theology
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Description
This edited collection invites fresh readings of play and storytelling in the Barbie movie (2023) through the lens of the Bible and theology.
For Christopher B. Hays, Meghan R. Henning, and their contributors, the Barbie movie is more than pink and mojo dojo casa houses; they argue that the film offers a nuanced reflection of Biblical and theological ideas. The chapters herein analyze the cultural impact of Barbie on its own terms, critically engaging its explicit attempts to offer social critiques of capitalism, patriarchy, ableism, and racism. From exploring Ruth Handler as God, Barbie as both Jesus and a jezebel, and historical Judean “doll-like” figurines, this volume's interdisciplinary interlocutors identify how Barbie depicts the stories we tell about ourselves, society, and God.
Table of Contents
Introduction, Christopher B. Hays and Meghan Henning
Part I. Barbie, the Hebrew Bible, and the Ancient Near East
1: The Creator and Her Creation: The Representation of Ruth Handler as God in the Barbie Movie,
Hanne Løland Levinson
2: Innerbiblical Barbie: Teraphim and Image of God in Genesis, Collin Cornell
3: Come Play With Me!: Barbie, Judean Pillar Figurines, and the Economics of Reuse, Kristine Garroway
4: Why is Barbie Called a Jezebel?, Tammi J. Schneider
5: “That Power Looks So Good on You”: Esther/Ishtar in Pink, Esther Brownsmith
6: 'What Was I Made For?' 'For Such a Time as This': Diaspora, Identity, and Purpose in Barbie and Esther, Alexiana Fry
Part II: Barbie, the New Testament, and the Classical World
7: “Do You Ever Think About Dying?”: Death and Transformation in Barbie, Breaking Bad, and the Bible, Christopher B. Hays
8: Barbie's Otherworldly Journey: From Plastic Possibilities to Toxic Positivity and Back, Meghan Henning
Part III: The Barbie Movie in Contemporary Culture
9: It's Hard to be Fragile When You're Made of Plastic: How Dolls with No Genitalia Expose the Absent Center of Greta Gerwig's Barbie, Kutter Callaway
10: “Am-Bar-Be-Veil-Lents”, Neomi De Anda
Product details
| Published | 15 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 208 |
| ISBN | 9781666980660 |
| Imprint | T&T Clark |
| Illustrations | 13 bw illus |
| Dimensions | 229 x 152 mm |
| Series | Theology, Religion, and Pop Culture |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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