Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Friday, April 01, 2011

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At the Barbie booth, students used a mannequin to point out the fashion doll's unrealistic and disproportionate body measurements.

Though iconic for some 50 years, Barbie is not today’s ideal woman.

“When I was little, I wanted to be just like Barbie. But now I realize it’s impossible. Nobody can achieve a perfect body like the media portray,” said freshman Layne Call, noting how the fashion doll is out of proportion.  “Barbie achieved many good things (from astronaut to NASCAR driver), but her body was so unreal.”

The Barbie booth was among the diverse museum of exhibits capping Women’s History Month at Bryan Station High School. Students in the Women’s Studies class and the Women’s Literature class worked together throughout March to prepare their material and promote the event.

“We thought it would be valuable to collaborate on a larger scale to educate our peers and our community and get kids excited about women’s history,” said teacher Rebecca Mueller, who noted they came up with both historical elements and modern topics.

“We’re taking Women’s History Month and making it about women, and not just history,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to let them run with the material and look into issues that are important to them.”

Fellow students, staff and other visitors strolled through the museum, which was set up at lunch time in the wellness center. The booths ran the gamut, from fashion trends and women authors and artists to sexuality, domestic violence and single mothers.

“We have issues that are deeper than our looks,” Layne pointed out. “Look at what the issues are that run deeper in us.”

In the weeks leading up to the museum, class members wore turquoise T-shirts inviting people to “Ask Me About …” On the back, the swirl design incorporated the names of dozens of famous women like Maya Angelou, Mo'Nique, Ellen DeGeneres and even Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Students also appeared on the school’s morning news show to plug the museum.

“We wanted them to practice research skills and how to figure out what your message is and how to engage viewers,” Mueller said.

Emily Warren, who teaches Women’s Literature, was glad her students had a chance to share with the larger school community.

“I hope they’re very proud to be women and have a sense of accomplishment that as women, they came together to create something to better their school environment,” she said.

While the museum enabled them to praise specific women who have made an impact and to promote the successes of women in general, the students did not forget the ongoing social, economic and political barriers.

“We recognize how far we’ve come, but we realize there’s a lot of change still to take place,” Mueller said.

Test yourself

Match the following groups of women with what they have in common.

1. Missy Elliot, Mariah Carey, Taylor Swift

2. J.K. Rowling, Nikki Giovanni, Jane Austen

3. Mary Wollstonecraft, Alice Stebbin Wells, Danica Patrick

4. Erin Andrews, Queen Latifah, Joan Rivers

5. Georgia O’Keefe, Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo

6. Maria Montoya Martinez, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Wilma Mankiller

a. Trailblazing feminists

b. Visual artists

c. Musicians

d. Native Americans

e. Authors

f. Media figures

Answers: 1/c; 2/e; 3/a; 4/f; 5/b; 6/d