[Air-L] New book: #Barbie and Social Media

[Rebecca Hains]

Colleagues,

I'm pleased to announce the release of my new book, #Barbie and Social Media: Digital Discourses and Mattel's Celebrity Doll. Some information for your consideration, including a book launch discount code:
About #Barbie and Social Media
This collection, edited by Rebecca C. Hains and Emily R. Aguiló-Pérez, delves into Barbie’s transformation from doll to global cultural icon–one that is deeply embedded in contemporary social media discourse. It explores how digital platforms have given rise to a dynamic, participatory culture that both celebrates and critiques doll and brand. From Mattel’s strategic branding of Barbie as a symbol of diversity and empowerment, to individuals' use of social media to reimagine Barbie’s identity and significance, #Barbie and Social Media offers a comprehensive examination of Barbie in the digital age.

Overview:

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Explores the rise, development, and status of Barbie representation and discourses on various social media platforms
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Focuses on adult and older teen engagement with Barbie online, going beyond traditional analyses of the doll
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Chapters explore topics such as gender identity, racial representation, feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and more

Library acquisitions and book launch coupon code
We hope you will ask your libraries to acquire this text, to help ensure equitable access for diverse scholars. It's available for acquisition in a digital format, as well -- ideal for assigning chapters as class readings.

The collection can be purchased at 20% off at https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-95611-9 with book launch coupon PALAUT.

Please note that a "sister volume," Barbie in the Media: The Transmedia Presence of Mattel's Celebrity Doll, is also newly available from Palgrave. The book launch coupon code above also applies.
Reviews of #Barbie and Social Media
“Hains and Aguiló-Pérez are two of the leading voices on children’s culture. In #Barbie and Social Media they have assembled a fresh yet timeless exploration of the famous doll as a brand, activist icon, site of critique, and so much more. With implications for areas as diverse as marketing, gender and identity studies, and online activism, this volume is essential reading for anyone thinking about culture and social media today.” (Brooke Foucault Welles, Ph.D., Professor of Communication Studies, Northeastern University and co-author of “#HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice”)

“As Barbie herself has evolved, so too has the public discourse surrounding the 11.5-inch-tall cultural icon. With this thoughtfully-curated collection, Rebecca Hains and Emily Aguiló-Pérez have added a valuable and timely contribution to that discourse, offering scholars, collectors, and fans alike a compelling volume encompassing all things #Barbie and Social Media.” (Sharon R. Mazzarella, Ph.D., Professor of Communication Studies, James Madison University and Author of “Girls, Moral Panic, and News Media: Troublesome Bodies”)

“Since the 2023 release of Greta Gerwig’s film, Barbie, there has been renewed interest in the impact of the Barbie doll on generations of women and young girls. Advancing this conversation, Hains and Aguiló-Pérez have assembled a superb collection of essays that examine how Barbie enters and informs the cultural imagination through social media. Recognizing that the Barbie doll signifies for adults as much as it does for young people, this highly accessible volume will appeal to academics and non-academics of all ages.” (Claire Katz, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy and Education, Texas A&M University and co-editor, with Anna Gotlib, of “In a Barbie World: Barbie as Narrative, Symbol, and Cipher”)

“#Barbie and Social Media offers a richly nuanced exploration of how a legacy brand like Barbie is being reimagined in the digital age. This timely and engaging collection is essential reading for anyone interested in youth culture, gender, and the politics of play.” (Sarah M. Coyne, Ph.D., Brigham Young University)

“Editors Hains and Aguiló-Pérez have compiled a Malibu Barbie Dreambook! The volume adeptly and holistically examines Barbie as a social-media presence, highlighting the push-pull of ideological contradictions, top-down and bottom-up meaning making, and intersectional identity constructions that include gender, of course, but also race, sexuality, nationality, and religion, among others. #Barbie and Social Media: Digital Discourses and Mattel’s Celebrity Doll is must-read for Barbie studies, leisure studies, social-media scholarship, and consumer-culture and branding research.” (Matthew P. McAllister, Ph.D., Penn State University)


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Rebecca Hains, Ph.D.

Professor, Media and Communication

Salem State University, Salem, Massachusetts

Pronouns: she/her

ORCID<https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9801-3376> LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccahains> ResearchGate<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rebecca_Hains> Google Scholar<https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=t34Zv4AAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao>