Protesting Pink: Barbie Dreamhouse Gets Fiery Welcome in Berlin. [View all]

[Divernan]

Berlin is my favorite EU city - lots of culture, history, good food - just super edgy - and they do know how to throw a good protest.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/protests-mar-opening-of-barbie-dreamhouse-in-berlin-a-900430.html

For some, it's a dream in pink. For others, it's a monument to misogyny. The Barbie Dreamhouse opened its doors in Berlin on Thursday, and demonstrators and journalists were out in force. Femen also made an appearance -- to burn Barbie on the cross.

"It is simply a very one-dimensional view of women," Bruha says about the exhibit. The message, she says, is that girls can become either models or pop stars -- and nothing else. "But there are other girls who are perhaps small or fat but can do other things super well."

Journalists from around the world -- from Poland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the US were present. All of them wanted to see if Barbie Dreamhouse is really that bad -- and if something newsworthy might happen outside. For a long time, it didn't. Until midday, the Pinkstinks people were the only ones holding their posters up to the cameras. "Barbie is not my baby," reads one. And "Don't just bake cupcakes, eat them too!"

The scene was almost idyllic. Leftist demonstrators, feminists and other anti-Barbie protesters sat peacefully on the artificial grass or on pink chairs enjoying the warm May sun while small children crawled around in front of the display tent. And then, Barbie was burned on the cross.