# Barbie commercial with stereotypically swishy young gay male child - Is this OK? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751 "2015-11-16T23:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/21 "2015-11-17T14:45:18Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Aren’t the vast majority of gay males non-swishy? Are the non-swishy gay males interested in fashion Barbies? (as opposed to the other kind of Barbie I guess) They could have had the kids sitting around going all Fashion Police on Barbie there and mocking her giant phone. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/22 "2015-11-17T14:51:12Z")
What does swishy mean? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/23 "2015-11-17T14:53:39Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Any young kid who says anything is exhibiting learned behavior. Indeed, babies are not born saying\* anything\*… ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/24 "2015-11-17T15:16:28Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > What does swishy mean? Effeminate. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/25 "2015-11-17T15:24:39Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I find the mini Valley Girls far more objectionable than the boy. Also, \*\*Octarine \*\*is right, it feels like a parody, such as you’d see on SNL. And why does a boy who is interested in fashion dolls (or other boys, for that matter) have to be portrayed as swishy? > On the one hand, I think it’d be great if those that like to get their swish on could grow up feeling comfortable doing as they please. On the other, is it furthering a stereotype? Aren’t the vast majority of gay males non-swishy? Either way, I cannot wait to see / hear about the spittle flecked outrage this is sure to induce. A lot of TV commercials seem put together using “paint by the numbers” stereotypes, and, indeed, have done so for decades. (It used to be always the stay at home housewife portrayed doing the house chores in the 50’s, then all the dads/husbands were always the “clueless” ones in the 80’s.) In general, many people use stereotypes as a kind of mental short hand when needing to group people into categories. Advertising companies and marketing departments use “target demographics” as well, in order to tailor their products. I wonder if sometimes they become blind to their own stereotyping habits, and the stereotypes seem more exaggerated to the rest of us, who don’t need to deal with thinking about demographics on a daily basis. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/26 "2015-11-17T15:38:49Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I’ve never heard of Moschino. Yeah, isn’t that a type of cherry? 😛 What I find most objectionable from reading the article are the prices on the dolls, clothes and purses. Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/27 "2015-11-17T16:34:03Z")
As long as they don’t forget to include the Fabulousity I have no problem with the commercial. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/28 "2015-11-24T05:07:35Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I’ve never heard of Moschino. There’s a lot of that going around. The article linked to a video on Moschino’s YouTube channel, not Mattel’s. I know Moschino from way back, and I am pretty sure this spot is basically them trolling again, _not_ an actual Mattel product. _ **“Fight the Fashion Monster!”** _ ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/29 "2015-11-24T05:11:53Z")
Here we see a very Barbie-themed Moschino show from January: [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmMyJiYeeco) Moschino’s fashion house has long had a wry and sardonic attitude toward marketing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/30 "2015-11-24T09:21:55Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > There’s a lot of that going around. > > The article linked to a video on Moschino’s YouTube channel, not Mattel’s. I know Moschino from way back, and I am pretty sure this spot is basically them trolling again, _not_ an actual Mattel product. > > _ **“Fight the Fashion Monster!”** _ You got it: [The ad is fake.](http://www.thestable.com.au/tag/moschino-barbie-fake-ad/) ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/31 "2015-11-24T16:16:17Z")
Ha, I was wondering if that might be the case. Though, for the record, the “swishy kid” is clearly an attempt to emulate the head designer from Moschino, whose name I don’t recall. He also goes around saying everything is “fierce”, and has that hairstyle. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751/32 "2015-11-24T17:03:38Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You got it: [The ad is fake.](http://www.thestable.com.au/tag/moschino-barbie-fake-ad/) I do wonder if an ad created, approved, produced and paid for by Mattel and intended to drive viral traffic and awareness of the brand can truly be considered “fake” just because it didn’t hit the airwaves. Mattel was Ok with the video reviewers thinking it was a genuine ad that was going to get airtime for several weeks. Mattel is (IMO) being just a little too cute with this dance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbie-commercial-with-stereotypically-swishy-young-gay-male-child-is-this-ok/737751.md?page=1)