Blind Barbie® gets dressed for the WA Council of the Blind convention, October 24 at the SeaTac Doubletree

Please note: this post is about Barbie® and Barbie, theme and variations with no trademark.

Readers who want to skip the Barbie® commentary may like to head straight for convention info.

Click for actual information about the 2024 WA Council of the Blind Convention

Readers interested in listening in can find a live stream on ACB Media 9 or by asking your smart speaker to play ACB media 9

Blind Barbie®

Blind Barbie ®

Blind Barbie, as introduced in July

Blind Barbie dressed for comfort

Barbie gets dressed for the WA Council of the Blind Convention

(Fashion offerings by one of RantWoman's collaborators in "good trouble.")

Earthy lattice background and some kind of metal planter with a plant

Visor to protect against migraines caused by fluorescent lighting. Also useful for helping corral hair.

Really awesome glasses / sunglasses: people who both wear glasses and use white canes exist. RantWoman is one of them.

Convention nametag

Sweatshirt for comfort when one should not attempt a bare midriff or when one expects one might encounter drafts or cold air streams

Somewhat shortened white cane. Cane length preferences are very individual.

comfortable capris

Sandals that look more or less comfortable if one actually does heels. Sandals not super practical since it's supposed to rain this weekend, but the convention is all indoors.

Should other Barbies® such as Chicken Farmer Barbie® or Astronaut Barbie® or Dentist Office Barbie® want to attend, they are also welcome.

Okay, okay the Barbie® world needs some other role models that RantWoman has not discovered:

Olympic Boxer Barbie

Olympic Shot putter Barbie

Jazz trombonist Barbie

Dungeons and Dragons spell casting Barbie

Cyberpunk Help Desk Barbie.

RantWoman invites readers to consider who else should be part of the Barbie® world.

One reason RantWoman asks who else should be a part of the Barbie® world: RantWoman has always had sort of a vexed relationship with Barbie®.

The RantSisters had dolls we quite liked: Little Sister had two respectable sized dolls named after the aunts who stayed with the RantFamily while attending the college where RantDad taught. The dolls were big enough that RantMom considered sewing clothes for them. They also had feet they could stand on. RantWoman had a different doll she was fond of.

One Christmas season, someone in the RantFamily circle decided the RantSisters needed Barbies®. RantWoman received a brunette doll with a simple royal blue dress. Little Sister received a blond Barbie® RantWoman' does not remember asking anything of her Barbie® except to stretch her legs and sit serenely in as much calm as RantWoman could manage on the RantSisters' shared desk.

RantWoman does not remember what Little Sister's Barbie® wore. RantWoman only remembers that Little Sister was in a phase of interest in cutting her own hair. Little Sister also thought Barbie® needed a haircut. Little Sister's hair grew out. Little Sister's Barbie on the other hand, spent her entire existence with a very asymmetrical style long before asymmetrical styles became fashionable.

The RantSisters' Barbies® also, horrors, never got new clothes: RantMom was not willing either to buy more clothes or to sew them new clothes.

And guess what: the RantSisters did just fine without any fancy wardrobe additions. The RantSisters' Barbies® also, thankfully, avoided some of the cruel barbarities some of RantWoman's college counterparts inflicted on their barbies®. The world is grateful.