A doll's deception. I'm Rebecca Leib. I'm Jason Horton. And this is Ghost Town.

Hi, I'm Teen Talk Barbie, the spokesperson for the BLO.

That stands for the Barbie Liberation Organization. We're an international group of

children's toys that are revolting against the companies that made us. We've turned against our

creators because they use us to brainwash kids. They build us in a way that perpetuates gender-based

stereotypes. Those stereotypes have a negative effect on children's development. We have set up

our own hospitals where we are carrying out corrective surgery on ourselves.

In 1993, a curious and creative group known as the Barbie Liberation Organization

made headlines by executing a peculiar act of cultural subversion by swapping voice boxes between

talking Barbie and GI Joe dolls. They sought to challenge the societal norms and question the

influence of mass media on gender roles and identities. This playful yet thought-provoking act

stirred up debates and shed light on the power of consumer culture. The Barbie Liberation Organization

purchased an estimated 300 to 500 Barbie and GI Joe dolls. They removed the voice boxes from the

dolls, swapped them, so Barbie would speak into deeper voice saying things like eat lead cobra

and the GI Joe dolls in a higher register would say things like, I'd love to shop with you.

They were then repackaged and returned to stores in Albany, San Diego, and Walnut Creek,

California, where unsuspected customers would be in for a bit of a surprise. Each box had a note

encouraging disgruntled parents to reach out to the media after discovering the toys weren't

gender-conforming. I love this. Every part about my over art educated self loves this idea and

would want to find one of these Barbies. Why you ask? The goal of their stunt was to reframe the

conversation over gender roles in America, especially after in 1992, Mattel had released a Barbie

that said, math class is tough. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, yes, yes, yes, that's very, very bad.

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