Ist Barbie Dreamhouse splits opinion in Berlin

The opening this month of the first life-sized Barbie Dreamhouse in Europe may be the fantasy of many a little girl, but Berlin feminists are mobilizing against the initiative.
With her ironed-straight blond tresses, doe-like baby blue eyes, blinding smile and super-human measurements, the mistress of the giant Barbie mansion has become a lightning rod ahead of the May 16 inauguration.
Just a few steps from Alexanderplatz, the main shopping district of east Berlin, the 2,500-square-meter slice of Malibu lifestyle is nestled between a railway and old communist housing blocks.
Inside, young Barbie fans can pretend to bake cupcakes in a marvelous kitchen, rummage through her sequin-studded wardrobe in the blonde bombshell’s “endless” walk-in closet and lounge in her — pink, of course — living room while admiring hundreds of dolls on display.
“For 22 euros ($ 29), you can have two careers — model or pop star! What kind of image is that presenting to young women?” grumbles Michael Koschitzki, the proudly feminist male leader of a grassroots group of opponents of the Barbie Dreamhouse.
A Facebook faction called “Occupy Barbie Dreamhouse,” created in March with a wink at the New York anti-greed movement Occupy Wall Street, has drawn more than 1,000 supporters since its launch in March when the Berlin plans came to light. It regrets that “the vast majority of little girls play with a doll that, if she were real, would be anorexic and whose life would consist of waiting for Ken in the car,” Koschitzki said.
An angry fist piercing adverts for the attraction was printed on 10,000 flyers to publicize the fight against such “propaganda” in a country headed by a childless woman.
Having weathered half a century of feminist rage, US Barbie manufacturer Mattel notes that it has modernized the doll’s image, moving beyond the beach beauty to create surgeon dolls and even a presidential candidate.
“Barbie has again become a tool for some to advance their own agenda,” a spokeswoman for the company’s German unit said.