Your Life Lived Out in Barbie Form

By Justin Japitana on October 13, 2015

Let’s raise a mason jar to the cold-brew drip coffee-lovers, to the nature hikes where people wear Hershel Supply backpacks and flannel shirts and heavy rimmed glasses, to analog cameras and sepia filters, and finally to the people who take pictures of scenic views accompanied with an irrelevant quote about living life freely and being introspective about things.

Meet Socality Barbie, your simple, fun-loving, authentic-living, adventurer. She loves to travel, her favorite places to visit are beaches and forests, enjoys espresso and ice cream, and is always happy to be with like-minded friends like her barista/writer/woodworker friend Kent.

Socality Barbie is the brain-child of a Portland, Oregon 20-something year old wedding photographer who asks to keep her identity secret.

The creator told Wired Magazine, “People were all taking the same pictures in the same places and using the same captions.” She says: “I couldn’t tell any of their pictures apart so I thought, ‘What better way to make my point than with a mass-produced doll?’”


Socality Barbie’s name is inspired by Socality, a term coined by a Christian organization, which means “social community all for eternity.” Basically, it engages others with the aim of creating a new-age Christian lifestyle (which has little to nothing to do with Christianity) i.e. well-dressed clean-living, happy minimalist furniture, hiking in designer boots, enjoying food under beautiful countertops, and of course mentioning how humble you are and thanking Jesus for creating beautiful trees and cliffside views. Some captions to Socality Barbie’s photos are “We took a break from technology this morning. It was only for like 10 minutes but it was exactly what we needed” or “Had to stop looking at the ocean to take a picture of myself looking at the ocean so I could post about how beautiful the ocean was.”

Although very humorous, the creator’s intentions are clear in satirizing how plastic and cliché many Instagram accounts have become. Socality Barbie captures a society where the pursuit of happiness involves thigh gaps and tattoos under forearms and on inner-thighs, and taking pictures of a hand holding food-truck cuisine but really the person is just trying to show her nail art.

This account makes fun of “that girl” – you know, the girl whose hair is always on point, who says “I’m not perfect” to her friends who aren’t as pretty as media shows, whose clothes are so trendy you don’t know what she does for a living and always manages to live your dreams for you such as traveling to exotic places and eating artisanal everything.


With all the Marxist connotations, can Socality Barbie’s pictures represent more than this stereotype of hipster aesthetic? You be the judge, but if you’ve ever ordered an iced, raw sugar, almond/rice milk flat white or ever ride a fixie in raw denim (not jeans, they’re called RAW DENIM), this account will definitely hit home.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format