More than Just the Mother of Barbie
90% of girls ages three through ten owned at least one Barbie doll. Ruth Handler’s idea for children to live there adult fantasies through a toy, came to life in a tall beautiful blonde doll. Barbra Millicent Roberts, or Barbie for short was named after Handlers daughter. Barbie was originally molded after the European Lilli doll that was made to be a gag gift, but Handler transformed this idea into so much more. The first Barbie doll was created in 1959, changing the toy making industry forever. This simple idea turned into a massive success. The sponsor of the phenomenon was Mattel Inc. founded by Ruth Handler and her Husband. Ruth Handler’s original idea of Barbie was revolutionary due to the many impacts on society this small doll created.
Some of the most popular toys today came from Mattel Inc. Handler her husband and partner Elliot Matt created this organization having no idea what would come out of it. Shortly after Barbie’s first debut, Mattel was pushed to the top of the toy making industry. “Since her "birth," approximately 1 billion Barbie’s have been sold in four decades, making Handler's "child" the bestselling fashion doll in every major global market.” (Karen). The Barbie brand is valued at over 2 billon dollars making it the most successful of all time. Every year between 150-200 different Barbie’s are put on the market making this product one of the longest lasting ever. It is amazing how one invention could turn into such an icon. Another invention of Handler’s which is far less popular but still just as important, was her line “nearly me”. Handler was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1970 inspiring her to create a line of breast prosthesis. “Unable to find a satisfactory arti...
... middle of paper ...
...s to give girls inspiration to live aspire for their dreams. Ruth Handler’s invention came to life just as she thought it would. Even after Handlers time Barbie’s are still such an important part of girl’s childhoods. This simple idea evolved into the number one toy making industry and the most popular doll in the world. Even though her body proportions are not ideal, she is still a beloved part of the common childhood. Ruth Handler believed in herself and her ideas. She was a successful entrepreneur, businesswoman, and inventor.
Work Cited
Martin, Melanie. “Negative Effects of Barbie on Girls.” eHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
“Ruth Handler.” Encyclopedia of World Biogrpahy. Vol. 25. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Student Resources in Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.
“Ruth Handler.” Newsmakers. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
This website article provides the history of Barbie and her newly inspiring images for young women. Barbie was the new popular doll during World War 2 because she provided something inspiring for young girls and something that mothers felt strong about, independence. Barbie helped with what was being told to women, that they didn’t have to settle for being just a housewife or a stay at home mother. Women around the country could have a variety, a choice to work and have a career. “Barbie’s early professions were limited
For starters the title, “Barbie Doll” holds a meaning. It symbolizes the ideal figure of a female body. Society creates this ideal that is embed into every century. It is never ending. It is intended that she must have the twig like arms and legs, the minuscule waist and nose,
Prager uses both expressive and persuasive modes in her essay. Her own flavors to this essay express her own frustrations with the ?men? that created Barbie dolls. In truth, Barbie was not created by Jack Ryan. Barbie was created by Ruth Handler. Handler sensed that it was just as important for girls to imagine what they themselves might grow up to become as adult women. In paragraph 2, Prager suggests in her essay that Barbie was fashioned after a man?s dream date with her tiny waist, large bust and feet made for stiletto heels.
Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, whose husband co-founded Mattel, the world's largest toy company. She noticed a gap in the market as she saw her daughter, Barbra, playing with adult paper dolls. At the time, the market for young girls was focused on baby dolls, but Barbra and her friends preferred to play with a grown-up version, dressing them up in outfits and pretending they were the grown up women they were playing with. Ruth then thought to create a 3- dimensional fashion doll that she would name Barbie after her daughter, Barbra. When presenting the idea to executives at Mattel, she was shot down, being told that they were too expensive to make for the amount of detail Ruth ...
Unblemished skin, windows of the soul with double eyelids, shaped eyebrows, chiseled nose, full red lips, burnished white teeth, jam-packed busts, and curves that spoke of perfect triad numbers all clothed with head turner costumes– words that illustrate the undeniably and undisputedly most successful and most famous doll of all time, Barbie. She is an: “[…] anatomically improbable molded plastic statuette [that] has become an icon [in fashion and has become a representation of every girl’s dream].” (qtd. in Ament 1) She was invented by Ruth Handler who was the co-founder of Mattel Fashion. The name, Barbie, was in honor of Ruth’s daughter, Barbara. “Ruth was inspired to create a three-dimensional toy based on adult paper dolls that have changeable clothes. She suggested it to her husband, Elliot, [who was also the] co-founder of Mattel Fashion.” (qtd. in Moss) Elliot and Ruth made everything just to make Barbie popular and accessible to every girl. And as they say, the rest is history.
Every woman grows up knowing that they one day want to be beautiful. In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” she gives an in depth look at what negative effects the concept of beauty can have on an individual. From infancy to a full grown adult woman, beauty has been a way of thinking and lifestyle. As a little girl you are given petite shaped, blonde, blue eyed dolls. While boys are given brawny soldiers and mechanical toys.
“If Barbie was designed by a man, suddenly a lot of things made sense to me,” says Emily Prager in her essay “Our Barbies, Ourselves” (Prager 354). Prager’s purpose for writing this essay is to explain the history of Barbie and how the doll itself has influenced and continue to influence our society today. Prager is appealing to the average girl, to those who can relate to the way she felt growing up with Barbie seen as the ideal woman. Emily Prager uses a constant shift between a formal and informal tone to effectively communicate her ideas that we view women today based upon the unrealistic expectations set forth by Barbie. By adopting this strategy she avoids making readers feel attacked and therefore
The talking Barbie was made in 1968. The customers and the Mattel Inc. were there. It happened because the Mattel Company thought it would be cool to add sound to the very popular Barbie doll. Also, the Talking Barbie was originally created in Mexico but later versions were made in Hong Kong. How the talking Barbie worked is it talked when you pulled a string in the back of her neck.
In 1945, Ruth and Eliott Handler founded Mattel – one of Americas leading manufacturing companies of today. The idea for the Barbie doll was conceived when Ruth watched her daughter play with adult paper dolls. She noticed the importance of being able to change the doll's clothes, and decided to create a three-dimensional fashion doll, naming her Barbie after Barbara (her daughter). At the time, the toy market was dominated by baby dolls and toddler dolls. Barbie was a new conception that became a worldwide hit. Since her debut in 1959, Barbie has remained one of the most popular toys of all time. There are two Barbie's sold every second, and more than one billion dolls have been sold around the world (Maine, 2000, cited in Slayen, 2011).
Not many arguments or tests are done on the positive effects of Barbie. Sure, she is a role model but what about when girls set goals for themselves and later in life do not meet these expectations? Unlike Barbie, most of these goals are unrealistic and cannot be met. Barbie provies alternatives to the female stereotype of a mother and wife, but marriage isn’t perfect like the way it is portrayed. She goes through absolutely no struggles.
Although Barbie was created as a toy for girls, the sexual nature of the doll suggests it was created for the pleasure of men and envy of women. Prager compares the figure of Barbie to the kind of women who would be seen in the Playboy mansion or be a frequent guest on explicit television shows. This is the image of a mans...
In a way, Barbie is a role model for girls to look to for confidence, because she is extremely talented and educated, and is considered the example of a career woman. Juggling over 130 careers on her resume, Barbie has accomplished the above and beyond. From rock start to pilot,Barbie has had every job a child could possibly ever dream about. This includes her being an astronaut and going to the moon; four years before Neil Armstrong. Even in the 90s, she ran for president before woman even made the presidential ballot. “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” From the start Ruth Handler, the co-owner of the Mattel creations and creator of the Barbie doll, created Barbie for the purpose of inspiration to young girls. Handler saw that her young daughter, Barbara, enjoyed playing with adult female doll...
According to Lisa Belkin, Barbie is good for society because she’s fun to play with and she encourages little girls to use their imagination and dream big. Many young girls who play with Barbie dolls have realized that she is just a doll. Some of these little girls don’t have the desire to look like Barbie; they just think Barbie is just a doll that they play with and leave them everywhere. At a young age girls are given their first Barbie doll and thought what “perfect” should be. Barbie portrays the perfect image and life. Not only is Barbie tall, skinny, and beautiful, she has all the luxurious accessories to match her perfect life. To go along with her perfect life she is accompanied with the perfect boyfriend, family and dream house.At a young age girls are also being influenced by this doll, what they should look like, and what kind of life they sgould lead. Young girls strive to achieve this look which is life threatening to obtain. Regardless to the changes they made to Barbie, she is still far from real. Little girls that are mature enough don’t strive to look like Barbie because she’s just a plastic doll.(Debate.org, 9). According to “The Intentions behind the creation of Barbie”, Barbie dolls ...
One day, as Ruth Handler watched her daughter play with paper dolls, she noticed that often the dolls were put into adult scenarios, such as grocery shopping, working, et cetera (“The Creation of Barbie”). As most dolls in this era, the 1950’s, were either babies or small children, Handler got an idea: what if she created an adult doll (“The Creation of Barbie”)? So, she drew up a design for one, and she named her Barbie, after her daughter, Barbara (“The Creation of Barbie”). Then, in 1959, Mattel, a huge and very popular toy company, picked up the idea (“The Creation of Barbie”). Barbie made her first appearance in New York, at the annual toy fair (“The Creation of Barbie”). That year, 351,000 Barbie dolls were sold, which was a sales record in America (“The Creation of Barbie”). Today, Barbie continues to be the most popular doll in the world, with two sold every minute (“The Creation of Barbie”).
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.