Ruth Handler And The Barbie Doll

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Recommended: The Good the Bad and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us

Nick LeBlanc
WMST 390T
Research Paper

Ruth Handler and the Barbie Doll

Ruth Handler is not exactly a household name around the world, however, her invention, the Barbie doll is. Perhaps one of the most well known toys in history, the Barbie doll has a special place in the heart of every little girl. The Barbie doll has been an incredibly influential toy in societies all around the world for decades. The argument on whether or not these influences were good or bad is a controversial one when discussing the remarkable toy. Many critics see it as a toy that has promoted an unrealistic body image for adolescent girls. It has also caused controversial stirs due to cultural issues in various decades and around the world. On the other hand many people find Barbie to be a very positive influence. It is thought they she promoted imagination and creativity as well as diversity.
Ruth Handler was born on November 4, 1916 in Denver, Colorado to Polish immigrants. She married her High School boyfriend and the two if them moved to Los Angeles, California in 1938. Her husband made their furniture using two new types of plastic at the time, Lucite and Plexiglass. Ruth, being an entrepreneurial person she was, suggested they do this commercially and they began a furniture business. Ruth worked as the sales person for this business landing them huge contracts with the likes of Douglas Aircraft Company. Her husband Elliot, and his friend Matt then formed a small business manufacturing picture friends and combined their names calling it, Mattel, thus Mattel inc. was born. Ruth came up with the idea of the Barbie doll from watching her young daughter, Barbara, play with paper dolls and pretended they were adults. She noticed the limitati...

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... present in their experiences with Barbie’s companion, Ken. Using this duo they can explore aspects of future relationship anxieties with men much earlier than they would in real life. Barbie becomes a problem when these lines between reality and fantasy begin to become skewed. This is when the question emerges; if Barbie allows these girls to be whatever they want to be then what goals and dreams does the doll encourage? With this question is where many of the negative aspects emerge.
The clothes and other objects that are found in the universe of Barbie would lead a girl to worry more about physical appearance and less on the professional jobs she has. The physique established by Barbie, the clothes she wears and the handsome man she dates would lead these adolescent girls to believe that sexual attractiveness is the key to popularity and therefore happiness.

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