OHT Unprescribed Stories Enters Barbieland

by Zoya Yasmine

The Unprescribed Stories Club is our new space for people to reflect on healthtech using ‘unprescribed stories’ like fiction books, films, music, TV shows, and art. Whilst these materials are not strictly ‘about’ healthtech, the Unprescribed Stories Club prompts us to think more deeply about the world in which we’re building healthtech in through having honest, speculative conversations about what equity means in this space. 

The Unprescribed Stories Club meets bi-monthly to discuss one story to interrupt the prescribed ways we think about healthtech. In January, we discussed, dissected, and debated Gerwig’s 2023 Barbie film, and explored what this can teach us about the commodification of health, patriarchy in workspaces, and whether equity and diversity can be pursued in capitalist systems – yeh, tough stuff, we do not hold back! In this blog post, fellow Zoya Yasmine (from OHT Oxford) provides a summary of the session’s discussion which focused not only on the Barbie film, but on the wider Mattel franchise, and what ‘Barbie’ represents as a commercial asset. 

Hi Barbie! 

Whether you grew up with a Barbie dreamhouse, are known to belt Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’ on the dance floor, or lined up dressed in pink with your pals to watch the movie in 2023, for better or for worse, we all have a relationship with Barbie. At the start of our session, we took turns to recap our own varied relationships with Barbie. For some, Barbie was not in their toy box, but still remained present in their childhood as an overbearing beauty standard or stark reminder of class divides. Others were closer to Barbie now with their own children playing with the (very many) different types of Barbie dolls. It's estimated that there are now thousands (!) of different types of Barbies, and even more accessories and other collectable items. 

Are we all Barbie?

“All of these women are Barbie, and Barbie is all of these women. She might have started out as just a lady in a bathing suit, but she became so much more.” — Narrator

Barbie didn’t start out as an inclusive or diverse doll line, and in an attempt to save a brand associated with giving children unrealistic body standards, Mattel, the Barbie manufacturer, has made a conscious effort to make the doll representative (of everyone?). This is something that the movie embodies too, as Barbies of varied ethnicities and some scope of body sizes were present on screen. In relation to the physical Barbie dolls, Mattel just launched a Barbie with a disability, introducing ‘autistic’ Barbie to its line of dolls in wheelchairs, those with prosthetic limbs, and hearing aids. Autistic Barbie, designed in conjunction with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, is accompanied by various accessories to support neurodiversity and sensory overload, such as a fidget spinner, noise-cancelling headphones and an augmentative and alternative communication tablet (all in pink, of course). 

However, the new doll has been met with criticism for suggesting that ‘autism’ has a ‘look’ (as such, any of the thousands of existing Barbie could be autistic) and the doll failed to be representative of everyone on the autism spectrum. In addition, OHT Fellow Klaudia also argued that the Autistic Barbie contributed to flattening the lived experience of autistic people into something marketable. “If they wanted to represent a Barbie with depression, would it be a crying doll?”. Such simplistic visual representations can be very limiting and, in some cases, perpetuate stereotypes. We saw parallels between Mattel’s attempts at making Barbie representative, and increasing attempts at making healthtech more diverse. Klaudia also reflected on the wider problem of invisibility of mental health symptoms, and how we can create meaningful representation of largely internal experiences without turning them into simplistic symbols and tropes. 

In addition to this, we also explored how Mattel’s increased efforts to diversify its Barbie dolls relates to technology companies obtaining more representative datasets to train AI models as a way to improve equity. While the ‘datafiction of health’ can draw interesting insights about our healthcare from patterns extracted from large datasets. No matter how hard we try, there may remain parts of our healthcare and lived experiences that cannot be so easily quantified into data points or ‘put into binary boxes’. In the case of Mattel, this involves putting everyone in boxes (literally…), as autistic, fat, gender neutral, pregnant, or Weird as a way to be representative. Approaches to improving diversity in ways that are superficial can be more damaging to those outside well-represented groups and can excuse the same exclusionary tactics under the guise of fairness. One example that this might be seen in is in FemTech – where some efforts may be more accurately described as prioritising profitability over equitable medical care. In FemTech Assets, Zokaityte identifies that the root cause of this problem might be the shaping of healthcare markets by venture capitalists and asset managers’ interests, who make decisions based on profits instead of health need. 

Because Barbie is healthy, we can be healthy… you just need to purchase this! 

In addition, the constant stream of accessories and different types of Barbie dolls is a perfect example of increasing consumerism and commodification, designed to increase the survival of lucrative brands. Indeed, Bowrey points out that Mattel’s marketing vision has been driven by Barbie’s ability to be personalized with updated aspirations by the doll owner, expressed through the doll’s attachment to commodities. Bowrey states (p 19): “That is, in purchasing accoutrements women find their better selves, and in finding their better selves, women gain access to power and influence, and increase their happiness.”. The driving commodification of health also reflects this pattern, where patients are being sold expensive health supplements and at-home tests as ways to feel more empowered and in control over their health, wellbeing, and happiness. Yet, Reddy points out that over the past two decades, the biotechnology industry has innovated extensively without significantly improving our public health.

While Barbie’s founder Ruth Handler says, ‘Because Barbie can be anything, women can be anything’, Bowrey points to the fallacies of this idea as it fails to acknowledge the structural impediments that prevent women from being anything – ignoring the historical reality of colonial and capitalist structures which are built on women’s subordination and also marginalises men at times. In a similar way, approaches in healthcare that sell us different treatments and services to become healthier, might actually be distracting us from the underlying systems that prioritise some healthcare needs, at the expense of others because they are driven by market pressures and capitalist motivations. 

Bringing Barbieland to the HealthTech Workplace? 

“The real world isn’t what I thought it was.” – Barbie 

The Barbie movie is set between three universes: (i) Barbieland, (ii) Mattel’s corporate offices, and (iii) the real world. In our interpretation of the movie, we saw how Barbieland and Mattel’s offices were portrayed as two liminal, satirical worlds and each were different, but also similar. Although Mattel’s building was in the real world run by a stereotypical patriarchy, its pink interiors and toy-like set felt like they belonged in Barbie Land. Similarly, while Barbieland is presented as a fictional utopia where the world is run by women, adopting a men-excluding matriarchy, replacing one hierarchy with another, reflected leadership and power structures in Mattel. As such, each of these liminal worlds – Barbieworld and the Mattel offices – appeared distinct from the real-world, and presented seemingly alternative values, but closer analysis found that they cross-over more than we think. 

“Women are at the foundation of this company! There was a female CEO in the 90s and then another one ... at some point. So that’s two right there!” — Mattel CEO

As part of our discussion, we explored which caricatured world – Barbieland or the Mattel office – felt closer to our realities, both personal and professional.  Some of us touched on elements of our working lives in healthtech that reminded us of Barbieland, where women were in real positions of power and there was a supportive working environment. We also spoke about not so pleasant experiences in corporate, stuffy offices reminiscent of Mattel. While Barbieland only scratches the surface of a feminist’s re-imagining of the real-world, it still provides us with some of the tools to help us think about more inclusive workplaces. The movie shows how oppressive patriarchal systems are harmful for almost everyone and the consequences of “enterprise culture” – a capitalist society in which taking on financial risks in the hope of profit is encouraged. Our discussion also explored how a world in which women have more equal rights and roles in society is not a never before seen concept. Indeed, OHT Fellow Kevin provided a historical analysis of the role of women who have served as equal hunters and foragers in Ju/’hoansi culture – drawn from his reading of Affluence without Abundance. Perhaps some of those desirable elements of Barbieland are not as out of reach than previously thought. 

Women’s health 

“I know that from many of the situations where celebrities and movies talk about important health issues, there is an uptick in people researching it, and you never know who it might actually help.” – Dr Nitu Bajekal

The Barbie movie ends with an iconic and unexpected line. Barbie has become human and appears to be walking into a job interview, when it actually is revealed that she is at a doctor’s office and is visiting a gynecologist. While being a funny ending to the movie, for those in healthcare, this ending had a wider and deeper impact. A study in JAMA found that in the week following the film’s release in July 2023, there was about a 51% increase in searches for “gynecologist” and “gynecology.” This shows how references in pop culture can influence health behaviours among the public. In the same week as our Unprescribed Stories Club session, the NHS social media campaign featured an ad telling women to go for a smear test if they could remember Harry Styles in his One Direction days. It has been praised for its innovative approach to influencing women’s health. There hasn’t been any solid evidence that the NHS’ approach led to actionable bookings from the Harry Styles’ fans (as with the Barbie movie) – but its ability to raise awareness and normalise these ideas should be praised and could indirectly improve health outcomes. 

Our thoughts on Barbie

“I’m interested in how life is complicated and messy and that there is nothing that’s either or, either good or bad, but it’s mostly it’s both…it can be all these things at once. And I think that felt like a rich place to start from.” (Greta Gerwig) 

Our final remarks touched on Barbie itself, and whether the criticism attracted by the film is in itself symbolic of women and the impossibility of being and existing. Gloria’s famous monologue in the Barbie movie reinforces this idea:  “We have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong.” We’ve pointed to a lot of the flaws of Barbie, but the analysis and our Unprescribed Stories Club discussion shows how the movie and franchise also provided us with a rich platform to explore power, diversity, and work culture in the healthtech space. Pop culture and entertainment brings us together, offers a shared language, and provides a speculative medium to think critically and deeply about our reality, narratives, and structures in healthtech. 

The next Unprescribed Stories Club? 

Hi Barbie! If this all sounded very fun and you’re feeling the FOMO, never fear. The Unprescribed Stories Club runs bi-monthly so our next session will be on 27 March at 5pm: 

OHT Unprescribed Stories - March

27 March 2026, 17:00–18:00Online

Register Now

In March, we’ll be getting musical – listening to a cassette concept album and EP from a collaborative songwriting-as-research project! The aim of the Unprescribed Stories Club is to use unprescribed materials which are not “about” healthtech, but nevertheless can help us think differently about the world we’re building it in. We’re hoping to explore what can be communicated in music about power, care and human relations, and how creative methodologies can provide more equitable ways to do healthcare. This one is a little more low effort than the others, you can pop on the tunes while doing the dishes, walking the dog, or on that long car journey. 

If you’re interested in joining the session, please join the Unprescribed Stories Slack Channel where you can keep up to date with all the Club’s happenings. If you do end up watching Barbie, do pop any of your reflections or thoughts of the movie onto the channel chat too – we’d love to hear them! 

Unprescribed Stories Club x Barbie questions

Below are some additional healthtech questions related to Barbie which you can think about yourself if you have watched the movie: 

1. Autistic Barbie – what are your thoughts on Mattel’s efforts to increase the diversity and representation of its dolls. Can you think about any other examples in healthtech that (i) went well (and why?) or, (ii) were met with criticism (why?). What can we learn from these previous efforts to inform more equitable approaches to the design and development of healthtech now? 

2. In Barbieland, what healthtech invention would you like to see? 

3. Who are the villain(s) or hero(es) in the film? Are there any? 

4. Barbie was created for ‘small female buyers’ who needed to be taught that happiness could be found in the buying of things. Are there any examples in healthcare and technology, where patients are being told that consumer purchases are necessary to achieve optimal health? 

5. Why did Mattel fund this movie, and does this change how you feel about the brand or movie? Are there similar corporate shadows in healthtech, and what are the consequences? 

The next Unprescribed Stories Club: film suggestions 

Here is a list of films that we had if you’re looking for some fictional movies with some loose healthtech-y vibes: 

The Children Act (2017): Fiona Maye, a judge, must resolve the case of Adam Henry, who is being prevented from undergoing blood transfusion by his religious parents, while also dealing with her failing marriage with Jack.

Barbie (2023): Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colourful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.

The Handmaid’s tale (1990): Under a dystopian religious tyranny, most women cannot conceive children. Those young women who can live in a form of sexual slavery to provide children for influential families.

Arrival (2016): Louise Banks, a linguistics expert, along with her team, must interpret the language of aliens who have come to Earth in a mysterious spaceship.

Where the Crawdads Sing (2022): Abandoned by her family at a tender age, a solitary Catherine attempts to fend for herself, much to society's dismay. Soon, she finds herself framed for her former boyfriend's death.