Meet Postmenopause Barbie
She’s strong. She's vibrant. She's full of life, with zero interest in slowing down.
It seems everyone is getting on the Barbie bandwagon these days. Barbie isn’t just having a moment. She’s leading a movement, becoming a cultural mirror that reflects our evolving ideas about womanhood, power, and even aging.
First, there was Greta Gerwig’s feminist blockbuster, and now there’s the proliferation of AI-generated Barbie action figures. Never quite an early adopter, I saw those, thought they were cute and said, “yeah, I’d like to do that.” Yet weeks later, I still hadn’t gotten around to it. Not usually a late adopter either, I finally went ahead, found out how to ask ChatGPT to create one for me, considered just what my perfect Barbie representation would be, and voila – Postmenopause Barbie: Holistic Health Coach was born.
Of course, I didn’t have to model my action figure on Barbie. There are tons of other action heroes appearing on the socials. Such positive female role models include Wonder Woman, Princess Leia, Power Girl, Super Girl, and Captain Marvel, to name just a few. I could have chosen any of those and been happy. But there is just something so relatable about Barbie, at least for me. See, Barbie and I have a lot in common. While I’m not blond and have no plans any time soon to become blonde, and I was never a model, we are close to the same age (Barbie’s a little older) and both hail from sunny Southern California. Granted, the backstory given to Barbie in her fictional biography was that she was born and bred in Willows, Wisconsin, but, for anyone who didn’t catch the movie, Barbie was actually created by a woman named Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel, which was and still is headquartered in suburban LA.
As children of the 1960s, both Barbie and I are Baby Boomers, albeit from the latter end of that generation. We are both fiercely independent and grew up believing that girls could defy traditional gender roles and be whatever and whomever we wanted to be, not just wives, mothers, and homemakers. Our role models were Bettie Friedan, Gloria Steinem, and Susan B. Anthony. Our enemies were Phyllis Schlafly, Anita Bryant, Archie Bunker, and any character we saw on TV who would pat or touch a woman’s behind. We celebrated the publication of the first issue of Ms. Magazine and the passing of Roe v Wade, and wished we were about 10 years older so we could participate in all the protests and vigils. As we got a little older, we devoured books like The Feminine Mystique, The Awakening, and The Handmaid's Tale.
Barbie, rather than serving as a sex symbol in order to attract a spouse, was to serve as a role model for female empowerment and self-actualization. Ruth Handler, no stay-at-home mom herself, wanted girls to not only dream big but to be able to realize their dreams, whether those dreams were to be a doctor, a lawyer, an astronaut, a pilot or even president of the United States. Back in 1959, when Barbie was born, no woman had ever been elected head of state in any major Western democracy. That privilege didn’t come until the next year, when Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected the first woman prime minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). And today, 65 years later, the United States has yet to elect a woman to the presidency. But, being successful, being empowered, being in control of one’s destiny, and having a career didn’t mean eschewing femininity, desiring to look dowdy or wanting to act masculine. It simply meant that girls (and their grown-up counterparts) could look, act, be, and do whatever it was they wanted without any snide remarks, disdainful looks or negative repercussions. Barbie just chose the more feminine route, but that didn’t mean she should be taken any less seriously. And that didn’t mean she couldn’t grow up to be a rocket scientist, CPA or CEO.
Unfortunately, Handler’s original goal of replacing the baby dolls that young girls were given in an attempt to prepare them for motherhood with an adult doll they could aspire to be like was overshadowed by the rather unrealistic body image she gave Barbie, often causing body dysmorphia and low self-esteem in those who didn’t share Barbie’s body type. Years later, after considerable feminist backlash and Handler’s death, Barbie was finally reimagined to be more inclusive of more realistic body types, as well as various ethnicities and races. At least Mattel got the message, even if it took falling sales to bring about change.
So, now that Barbie is long into her postmenopausal stage of life and has to worry about lower estrogen levels, weight gain, loss of lean muscle mass, sagging breasts, thinning hair and skin, brain fog, and a whole host of other issues, some might dismiss her as past her prime. But, being the eternal optimist, Barbie doesn’t give up. With age comes experience and wisdom, and those breed pragmatism. So while Barbie might not be dreaming of becoming a runway model or ballet dancer, and while she might want to tone down her career as corporate lawyer, emergency room doctor or fighter pilot, she has no plans to just roll over or simply go to the senior center for a free lunch and the opportunity to string beads. Barbie’s got plenty to do.
Barbie rows at least three days a week to keep her body in shape. She also works with a personal trainer, takes yoga, strength training, and resistance training classes to increase her flexibility, maintain good balance, build muscle, improve her bone health, and increase her physical strength. Barbie follows a whole-food, mostly plant-based diet, ensuring she gets enough protein to keep her bones strong, prevent muscle loss, and optimize her metabolism. She takes her Omega 3s, Vitamins D, C, and B12 (because she doesn’t eat meat); calcium (from algae, which is more easily absorbed than calcium derived from rocks); Vitamin K2 to make sure the calcium goes into the bones and not the soft tissue (where it can cause heart disease); magnesium, which is critical when taking calcium and is also essential for bone health, as well as to combat muscle cramps, fatigue, irritability, insomnia, hot flashes, and mood swings; turmeric (with black pepper which aids absorption) to reduce inflammation; probiotics for gut health; and a host of herbs, spices, and adaptogens she swears give her energy, stamina, endurance, build immunity, and help with her arthritis pain. She eats the rainbow, making sure she gets a wide variety of nutrients from a wide variety of sources, such as leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, sweet potatoes, squash, beets, avocados, cabbage, olives, mushrooms, garlic, peppers, onions, etc. She also includes fruits, especially berries, nuts and nut butters, flaxseeds, chia seeds, pumpkins seeds, legumes, and whole grains in her diet, and tries to keep away from gluten and alcohol, as they tend to worsen her arthritis (although she does cheat every now and then). She keeps her sugar intake below 25 mg and her fiber intake above 25 mg.
Barbie also keeps a gratitude journal, practices mindfulness, and seeks out fun and interesting things to do, from taking walks in nature or in the city (she can clock about 10 to 12 miles at a time without any problems), traveling, sightseeing, going to the theatre, concerts, musicals, and even the occasional opera. And Barbie is an artist, creating collage art in her free time as a way to relax, de-stress, and just enjoy herself. But, as much as Barbie loves creating art, she’s been super busy these days, because Barbie went back to school. After a long career spanning many industries and professions, Barbie became a Holistic Health Coach. Armed with her certificate and a wealth of knowledge, both learned and experienced, Barbie started her new business and is working hard to educate the world. But Barbie doesn’t stop there. She is continuing her own education, constantly taking courses, earning certifications, and reading books. At 66, Barbie is a dynamo and has no plans to slow down anytime soon.
Postmenopause Barbie is thriving, and so can you. If you’re looking for personalized support for energy, mood, diet, or any other challenges women face in postmenopause, let’s chat. You don’t have to figure this all out on your own.