©2012 Feminist Formations, Vol. 24 No. 1 (Spring) pp. 102–126 We’re Not Barbie Girls: Tweens Transform a Feminine Icon Louise Collins, April Lidinsky, Andrea Rusnock, and Rebecca Torstrick “Reinventing Barbie” was a workshop for middle-school girls to discuss, critique, and refect on the construction of female bodies and feminine identities in popular culture by remaking Barbie dolls. The workshop was designed to foster conversations with and among girls about what it means to be embodied as female in American culture. The girls reconstructed Barbies based on their refections, and then they came together to discuss their dolls as expressions of their visions for transforming the feminine. The article analyzes the collaborative process of the workshop, which was grounded in women’s studies scholarship and developed by an interdisciplinary group of feminist academics. Keywords: Barbie / beauty / body image / body project / feminist workshop / intergenerational mentoring / middle-school girls / popular culture “Barbie, you’re beautiful. . . . Someday, I’m gonna be ’xactly like you. Till then I know just what I’ll do: Barbie, beautiful Barbie, I’ll make believe that I am you.” —Mattel jingle, Barbie television advertisement (1959) “I think Barbie is so popular because she’s so pretty and she’s fun to play with. You could pretend it’s you when you grow up.” —Workshop participant (2006)