Oh man – she feels like Barbie. And she’s officially single now: Shania Twain has a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll made by Mattel. The singer joins Viola Davis, Helen Mirren, Kylie Minogue and many other famous artists or activists who will receive their own special dolls as part of Mattel’s celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8.
One thing to get right away: These dolls are disposable, so you won’t be able to go to the store and get your very own Shania, Kylie, Viola, or Helen doll. (And no one represents Mexican director Leila Aviles, Brazilian content creator Mayra Gomez, Japanese model Nicole Fujita, German comedian and activist Inessa Amani, and other international celebrities who have created unique Barbie dolls in their honor.)
Realizing that there would be no way to own “the man” personally! I feel like a woman! Barbie came as shocking news at the beginning of our conversation with Twain, but we pulled ourselves together and continued on the Zoom call to discuss what Barbie means to Shania. (Aside from International Women’s Day, the Barbie brand is also celebrating its 65th anniversary with the Barbie Dream Gap Project partnership with Inspiring Girls International.)
When they called you and wanted to make you a Barbie doll, did you say, “Well, of course — what took you so long?” Or do you have questions?
I felt honored and flattered that what this Barbie represents is what I’m trying to represent. It’s a fun world. I take being a role model seriously, without taking myself too seriously. I mean I use humor in all my songs, and I try to be myself, which is a fun person, but I still say what I need to say. And some things are very bold, which I say as a woman. I enjoy inspiring others. It’s part of my happiness being an artist. So this Barbie represents empowering girls to dream and imagine beyond what they think is possible. Because imagination is a free space where they can explore their realization of their own potential.
This Barbie toy includes the iconic “Man”! I feel like a woman! Your clothes, but you have the pink hair that we saw you wear when you played in the Hollywood Bowl last year, which is interesting.
This Barbie is an exact replica of me on the “Queen of Me” tour. So even though “Man! I feel like a woman!” The outfit is an exact replica of the classic look from the video (1999), I wore this classic outfit on tour (2023) – original hat, all – but I wore a contemporary hair. So I brought my new fun self and my new experimental persona to the stage alongside my classic self. Barbie respected that, and it was a collaborative effort. I’m flattered that they respected that. As you know, classic means classic; It means it is old, which means it has been around for a while. But it’s really fun to bring that up now.
Has your perception of Barbie changed over the years, since you were a girl? The movie kind of plays with the idea that she’s a feminist, but maybe for some time people have been viewing her as the antithesis of feminism, or just something for a girl to aspire to.
Well, I’d love your take on the film and intentions. You know, it took me a really long time as a kid to believe that when it comes to being a girl first, or a thinker first… can you be both at the same time? Or what order do you put it in? Which one will you be tried for? That’s what I thought when I was a kid. I don’t think my adult self will look like this when I’m eight. I think being a girl is a disadvantage, and if I put a girl first, they won’t take me for who I am. I’m thinking seriously.
So Barbie was an escape from reality for me. Barbie was able to do it all. Barbie was able to be beautiful and still do all these amazing things. It was almost unreal, but that’s what prompted me to use my imagination. I played Barbie all the time when I was a kid, but I never owned a Barbie. I made Barbie myself. So what Barbie represented to me as a child was a place to imagine what I never imagined would actually be possible. It was my great escape. I can speak any accent I want. I can be from any country. I created all my own dialogue, all my own stories, all my own characters. They all had different names. I made up the names. The sky was the limit. Living in a fantasy world is very important for all children.
And even though I didn’t have a Barbie doll, because it was more important for me to have a guitar, for example… the irony was that I was telling the stories on my guitar musically, but I was writing the dialogue and building the characters through the Barbie. Concept. And then it dawned on me that I was able to finally get it all done. I’m one of the lucky ones. I was able to really show my thoughtfulness and vision in the clothes and aesthetics.
That’s why, when I describe the movie Barbie, I focus on the fact that they got the message across without compromising the aesthetics and glory of the colorful beauty and details of Barbie. The artistic aspect did not overpower the message, and the message did not overpower the art. The film successfully achieved contradiction with humor, and I thought it was great in that sense. This is what I strive to do. I strive not to give up one person for the sake of another, and this is difficult to achieve. I think “Oh man! I feel like a woman!” I made it happen. I feel so lucky that it happened, and that they agreed to “Oh man! I feel like a woman!” was the right image for this Barbie.
What makes an outfit special?
You know, the uniform was very structured. It was very demanding, like a silhouette. You know, with hard hats, it was all business. Then it disintegrates, things start flying, and the woman’s soul begins to come out. It’s a woman who created it in the first place… I say in my case, and I mean also for Barbie; She is the woman who created Barbie. The creative space was me talking about my true self, as an exclamation – “Man! I feel like a woman!” -And I really mean it. I enjoy being myself, but still getting my message across.
Just to back up… You said you should make your own Barbie doll, because there wouldn’t be money if you had to buy guitars instead?
I loved having the guitar. That was a joy for me. I couldn’t make my own guitar, but I could make my own Barbie doll.
So, we’re not giving kids any ideas that would stop them from buying Mattel products, of course…but so what an act Do you make your own Barbie dolls?
I made them out of grass.
amazing.
And I just lived my Barbie dream. They did what every Barbie does: they talked to each other. They interacted. I gave them all the dialogue. I would love to bring that back! My other friends had Barbie dolls, and they weren’t made of grass, and I thought they would make fun of me. So the only person I played with was my little sister, and she played with me in the grass. She was playing grass barbie.