Transnational Commodities as Local Cultural Icons: Barbie Dolls in Mexico

T HE TRANSFORMATION OF NORTH AMERICAN IMAGES AND PRODUCTS into transnational commodities and their circulation around the world in a process of globalization has raised concerns about the homogenization of cultures. This research explores how commodities need not serve exclusively as vehicles for the meanings and values invested in them by Western producers, but may be transformed into representations of indigenous or local identities through a process of creolization. The term creolization refers to the process by which foreign goods are assigned novel meanings and uses in diverse cultural settings (Howes 5). The transnational product analyzed in this article is the Mattel Barbie doll. This doll has been made to represent more than thirty nationalities with at least forty different career personas and is sold in 140 countries. Despite efforts by Mattel to blanket diverse markets by adapting Barbie’s skin color and clothing, the changes that she has undergone in the hands of non-Western consumers remain striking. Research regarding the reception of transnational products in the Yucatan region of Mexico reveals that Barbie has been reformulated by Mexican consumers to represent local identity rather than emulating the meanings and values she was attributed by Mattel. Specifically, the local values embodied in Mexican versions of the Barbie doll relate to the significance of traditional Maya clothing, a regional dance called jarana, and a rite of passage for adolescent girls called the quince años ceremony. In addition, the Mexican image of Barbie as a woman