Adult Barbies and Dispersed Culture

The Dispersed Family (DF) consists of services and people that work in synchrony with the individual Psychological Adaptations of customers. The DF probably meets Dawkins (1) criteria for an Extended Phenotype, an expression of genetic code that occurs outside the body of a specific individual.

A DF is perhaps the response of a Hunting & Gathering mind to high population and to the technical amplification of our other psychological adaptations, such as those for transportation, monitoring other people, making tools, and processing information. The DF has so far consisted of informal elements, early attempts to develop substitutes for familial coalitions. The laundry service was perhaps the first, or perhaps baby sitters, prostitutes, and housemaids.(2) Competitive pressures allowed each of these things to become more formal and piecemeal; individual alliances with particular users weakened. Businesses grew.

McDonalds symbolized the next step for dispersed families, the possibility of getting a familiar meal in a familiar setting, served by people in familiar costumes that designated their role and appropriate treatment. (It was also a winner because it cut sharply into labor costs (waiters) of traditional feeding sites.

I commented informally some two decades ago that any function once met by the family could possibly represent a commercial opportunity. My thought at the time was for "Granny Tenders," (not something to eat!) a service that would check on the health of elderly or solitary people. Checks could be made in person or by phone, scheduled or randomly as a function of customer need. Emergency checks could be triggered by the customer's activating a transponder or by calling the service, for example when they expected to work on the roof.

Other DF elements that currently exist include television, Rotary Clubs, churches, health plans, dating services, insurance plans, pet sitting services, and shopping malls.

There is at least one more opportunity to refine our evolving DF matrix but without escalating its present level of complexity. I suggest the Adult Barbie.

Marketing analysis reveal an increasing percentage of singleton life styles due to the differential survival of males and females as well as the greater social isolation of many males. (Females may be a more limited customer because they tend to seek each other to satisfy Psychological Adaptations.) Small children play with Barbie and GI Joe dolls; us larger children have similar emotional needs, even when living alone. Posters, giant screen televisions, and people watching either the Lion King or Casablanca 30 times are evidence of such needs.

A trial project with customized department store mannequins may be profitable. The larger size and symmetrical features of many mannequins should be attractive in accordance with ethological principles related to Superoptimal Stimuli. That is, the larger and the more intense, the greater the behavioral response. Given Symons-Buss Standards for ideal female traits, it should be simple to design a few templates with slightly exaggerated features, that will sell to a wide range of single people.

Customization could occur after the first design run, just as has been done with successful automobiles. Hair styles, skin tone, height, weight, and physique could be matched to customer preferences, either verbally expressed or assembled on the basis of the customer's parental traits (to appeal to Linkage or Imprinting effects). This latter option should ensure greater emotional attachment between the customer and his styrene partner. The mannequin can also be accessorized with special jewelry or wardrobe accents. Tattoos are a possibility. Subsidiary businesses are likely and will hire some of the people displaced from family roles by the mannequins. Given the large numbers of families already split by two working parents, the mannequins will not likely aggravate our existing problems in this domain.

Some may prefer a mannequin with featureless faces, adapted to accept photographs or 3-D replicas of loved ones. Mannequins could be adapted (evolving mannequins?) to differing customer personalities. Borderlines, paranoids, manics, and anxiety disorders might have different needs. The narcissists will require perfect, expensive mannequins. Some could be adapted to accept different faces with little planning in the event of spats or surprise visits from relatives. Out with Lady Conan and in with Doris Day! Husbands could even have one of their wife at a younger age.

Marketing success would depend upon the proper introduction so that public embarrassment is avoided. Iconic, superoptimal stimuli such as Bruce or Meg could endorse the mannequins, serve as templates, and even have one escort them in public places such as restaurants or airplanes. There would be no need to eat alone! Some of us with separation anxiety may become less dependent on television to soothe our angst. Imagine listening to Beethoven with Barbie instead of watching Vanna.

The Adult Barbie may never be so effective as a living human; she won't be able to interact with multiple Psychological Adaptations in the customer. A living equivalent can usually generate heat, comforting sounds, affection, first aid, a good meal, and perhaps sex all at once or in timely succession. Thus, it could be more economical for a while to involve living people in the more complex applications. People could be used to develop a market niche and defend it until the day that mannequins reach the necessary sophistication. Geishas may yet have a transient role in specialized western subcultures.(3)

NOTE:

1) Dawkins R (1992) The Extended Phenotype. NY: Oxford.

2) These are largely female traditional roles. This there a vacancy since most females can mate but many males do not? Bateman again! AJ Bateman noted that little difference (in fruit flies) existed between the reproductive output of females; large differences were seen with the males. Nearly every female can mate; most of the mating by males is done by a smaller proportion of them. Females cannot increase their output by multiple matings whereas males can; thus, the girls tend to be more cautious with their selections and the guys are often less choosy. According to Ridley (1993, The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature, NY: Penguin), Bateman's observations have been repeated in 99% of known species.

3) There are already commercial services, called "Rent a Husband," advertised to repair outlets, pipes, and stuck windows.

No Replies