How Barbie Eradicates Stereotypes On Young Girls

When Barbie first made the stores, back in 1959, she resembled a typical woman of the fifties. As time wore on, Barbie’s appearance also changed, and over a fifty-seven year time span approximately two million different Barbie models circulated. Among them were a few tendentious Barbies, sending questionable ideas to young girls’ heads but there were also Barbies that promoted exceptional ideals for girls. Recently Mattel, the Barbie creator, has also added a new range to the Barbie army, one that eradicates stereotypes on women’s bodies.

The 1960s welcomed the age of the Barbies and her ever-increasing popularity. The first Barbie, contrary to her later looks sported dark hair with bangs. However by the time the sixties rolled around, Barbie

In a partnership with the Oreo cookie company, a Barbie doll was released called ‘Oreo.’ She was, however, a black doll and at that time, oreo was a derogatory term for blacks that were ‘acting white.’ Wheelchair Barbie recognised all the disabled children, however, her wheelchair, not accommodated in the ‘Barbie Dream House’, soon raised outrage. The Barbie Dream House was re-furbished to contain a ramp. Somewhere along the way, Mattel realised that Barbie had not aged, and in 2003, Grandma and Grandpa Barbie came into fruition. As the millennium progressed, so did the view of women in society. Barbie promoted girl power and education with a graduation doll released in 2008. High School Musical was increasingly popular and so Barbie took on the persona of many of the characters from the show including Gabriella Monetz, Sharpay Evans and Taylor McKessie. The dolls could even sing! Barbie’s makeup became more extensive, with heavier eye shadow and longer lashes. To pay homage to the 45th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ a Barbie, entitled ‘Hitchcock Barbie’ was released. The Barbie was a miniature Tipi Hendron, complete with removable crows, attacking the small figurine. This Barbie was not one for young children. In 2009, special edition Barbie dolls, resembling characters from the Star Trek films, became all the rage. People noted that Barbie was wearing a red outfit, signifying she would

‘I-Can-be-President’ Barbie came in a range of different ethnicities and was ahead of its time as the first female candidate running for president in America was not until four years later. ‘Around the World’ Barbies made an appearance in 2013 with Mattel trying to include all different cultures as part of their Barbie range. They met with some criticism in connection with the Mexican Barbie, as her stereotypical pink dress and tiny Chihuahua were offensive to some. Fitness Barbies also made the stores as the Zumba craze swept around the Western world. In 2013, Barbies with dyed hair, pink, blue, green and red, began selling in stores. Nerd glasses also became part of Barbie fashion, as people started wearing fake glasses. Only this year, Mattel has made their best release yet. A new range of Barbie dolls has finally come to stores. The range, known as the ‘tall, curvy and petite’ range, has dolls in seven skin tones, twenty-two eye colours, thirty hair colours, twenty-four hair styles and 14 face moulds. The old Aryan Barbie with blond hair and blue eyes is no longer as popular. Barbie is finally reflecting a much-needed wider scope of beauty in women. Since the sixties, Barbie has progressed, and while there have been a few questionable dolls sold on the market, as a whole the Barbie doll had evolved with the changing FAD’s of the