Barbie Girls and Xtractaurs: Discourse and identity in virtual worlds for young children

Abstract

This paper examines the ways in which Mattel's Barbie Girls and Xtractaurs, online sites aimed at girls and boys of six years of age and up, respectively, offer markedly distinct literate and semiotic resources for their young users. Analysis focuses on the multimodal layers of meaning and the mediating tools, artefacts, and literacy objects that both afford and constrain certain types of play and shape the possibilities for selfrepresentation and interaction in these spaces. Through content analysis and comparison of the two sites, the authors explore the kinds of discourses made available in these spaces and examine how they might impact on young players' perceptions of the social roles and life opportunities accessible to them both within and outside of these virtual worlds.

Play and identity in gendered LEGO franchises

“…Comparing these results with the findings of Black et al (2013), which found that Mattel's Barbie Girls online world was at a much lower reading level than another contemporary online product for boys (Xtractaurs), we offer that, while the gender roles embodied in their products may be problematic, LEGO does not treat girls as less advanced than boys in terms of the core assembly activity of the sets, and rather treats them as more advanced. However, as will be discussed in the next section, taken together, the qualitative and quantitative results of this study point to the multiple levels at which a product may affect its users, not all of which may be consistent.…”

“…The parity across the sets in terms of discourses of adventure and physical activity was an unexpected finding for the researchers, as discourses of exploration and adventure are often the purview of boys-only narratives (Black et al, 2013;Cassell & Jenkins, 2000). Perhaps the most striking distinction between the sample sets is the overrepresentation of leisure pursuits in the Friends sample.…”

“…For instance, Carrington (2003), Wohlwend (2012), and Black, Korobkova, and Epler (2013) analyze toys and their digital counterparts as identity texts that open, close, and invite certain ways for children to see themselves, for example, as 'doing boy' or 'doing girl'. Specifically focusing on gendered expectations, both Wohlwend (2012) and Black et al (2013) posit design of commercial products geared for children's consumption and play as having built-in 'anticipated identities' that are embedded in the design of toys such as Disney Princesses and Barbie. These anticipated identities, akin to Lauwaert's notion of facilitated play practices, are further indexed through the narratives of associated multimodal texts, such as books, songs, movies, games, and virtual worlds.…”

“…For example, drawing on these notions, Black et al (2013) analyzed two Mattel-produced virtual worlds, one marketed for girls and one for boys. Although the two worlds were structurally and functionally similar to each other, they offered markedly divergent literacy and identity resources to their participants.…”

Being together in classrooms at the interface of the physical and virtual: implications for collaboration in on/off-screen sites

“…When using virtual environments in school, therefore, teachers and children learn what is possible as they take up available resources and align with what others are doing. Schooled resources are significant, as are the possibilities for exploration and interaction enabled by virtual environments, and the values and aims of producers and sponsors which, woven into these environments, position children in certain ways and frame what they are able to do (Buckingham and Rodriguez 2013;Black et al 2014). Also significant however are the ways that individuals respond to such environments and relate to one another.…”