Barbie's History Filled With Ups and Downs
Posted: Sunday, December 09, 2007
by Malisa Morsman
Imagine a woman who can do anything she sets her mind to. This woman needs only imagine a goal, and it is within reach. The fine arts come naturally; she is gifted in dance, voice, and acting. Sports are a breeze. Medical school can be a challenge, but with perseverance, she earns her degree and helps her community with a successful practice. She serves in the Armed Forces and even tries her hand at politics. She is as comfortable in front of a large crowd as in the classroom or behind a fast food counter.
This woman is Barbie.
Do you hear the collective gasp upon this revelation? But wait, you think, Barbie is that dumb blonde who entices our daughters to anorexia and self-esteem problems! No good can come of this devil woman in shiny plastic form.
Sure, since her inception in 1959, Barbie has had her ups and downs. But what else would you expect from a woman who has been an astronaut, the president, and an Olympic gymnast? Regardless of Mattel's politically incorrect hiccups along the way, the Barbie doll is a fascinating picture of the way we teach our girls to grow up.
Created by Ruth Handler for her daughter Barbara, the Barbie doll was originally intended to fill the gap in the toy market for dolls that could take on adult roles like careers and family life. The idea was initially opposed by both Handler's husband Elliot, a co-founder of Mattel toy company, and Mattel as a whole. Not easily dismayed, Handler persisted, and on March 9, 1959, the doll formally known as Barbara Millicent Roberts made her debut at the American International Toy Fair.
Barbie as a character is a multi-faceted woman in and of herself, but everyone needs a friend sometimes. Thus, Ken was born. Also named after one of Handler's children, the Ken doll was introduced in 1961 and was Barbie's steady boyfriend until Mattel announced that the two had split in 2004. Fortunately for Ken fans, the couple reunited in 2006 and currently shows no signs of a rocky relationship.
Barbie also has several friends who have undergone several recreations in the years since their introductions. She has four sisters, Skipper, Stacie, Kelly, and Krissy. At other times she had a sister named Tutti and a brother named Todd, but those dolls have since been discontinued. Barbie's extensive entourage includes friends of several different ethnicities, including Christie, the first officially African American doll in the Barbie line (granted we excuse the cringe-worthily named "Colored Francie," the dark-skinned but otherwise Caucasian edition of Barbie's one-time cousin).
Of course, the Barbie brand is not without its controversies. One of the best-known of the Barbie recalls was that of 1992's "Teen Talk Barbie," which talked to girls in a random four of 270 possible phrases. While most of the phrases were harmless blabber about shopping and friends, the line "Math class is hard!" perturbed certain females for whom math class was, in fact, not hard. Two months after the doll's introduction, Mattel chose to discontinue that phrase in "Teen Talk Barbie" and offered a replacement doll to any consumer who was offended by the potentially stereotypical quip.
But offending math-savvy intelligences is not America 's biggest gripe with Barbie. At "playscale" size, or a 1/6 ratio, Barbie is the plastic equivalent of a 5-foot, 9-inch woman with a 36-inch bust, 33-inch hips, and an impossibly small 18-inch waist. Critics point out that such measurements would put Barbie under the body fat percentage which makes it possible for women to menstruate (which would seem to cause some difficulties for the creation of the Barbie Happy Family collection). These critics complain that such a role model is unhealthy for young girls, teaching them that the perfect standard of beauty is an unattainably thin figure, and they worry that children will harm themselves trying to achieve such an appearance. This worry gave birth to the phrase, "Barbie syndrome," which refers to a warped self image in which primarily preteen and adolescent girls focus unhealthily on reaching a figure and lifestyle that emulates that of their childhood play toy.
Indeed, in 1965, Mattel introduced "Slumber Party Barbie," which came complete with a toy scale which read 110 pounds, roughly 35 pounds underweight for a woman of Barbie's height. And in case girls who played with "Slumber Party Barbie" wanted to know how to reach such a low weight, the doll came with a book titled How to Lose Weight, which entrusted readers with the secret of many a successful eating disorder: "Don't eat."
Barbie has not always been a healthy body role model for girls who come from actual human genes and not a plastic mold, but those who played with the doll and came out none the worse for the experience often look back on their childhood friend with fond memories. In fact, Mattel estimates that there are over 100,000 Barbie collectors worldwide. Most of these collectors are women, and 45 percent of them spend over $1000 a year fueling their hobby. Some drop thousands of dollars on each vintage doll, but others enjoy picking up the newer offers from Mattel, including collectors' editions of Barbie as characters from many popular TV shows and movies.
The greatest threat to Barbie's reign as the queen of the doll kingdom comes from the increasingly popular Bratz dolls, created by MG Entertainment. Pouty lipped and sporting some "modern" attitude, Bratz appeal to girls who find Barbie a little too tame for their worldly middle school sensibilities. In likely retaliation against the Bratz line, Mattel launched MyScene Barbies, which bear striking resemblance to the Bratz but retain the signature Barbie look. Of course, this resulted in an ongoing lawsuit between the two companies. Ultimately, Mattel maintains, the Barbie brand generates the most revenue among its total range of products, and thus continues its dominance in the world of fashion dolls.
Whether loved or hated, Barbie is certainly an American icon. Nearing her 50 th birthday, she continues to look as young as the day we met her-a feat for any modern woman. Consumers can choose to dismiss Barbie as a perpetuator of negative stereotypes, but perhaps the enduring quality of America 's favorite doll is the hope of endless possibility for young girls who can only dream of the day when they, too, can live in a magical dream house and be whatever they want to be.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)i really dont want to be mean but you are making Barbie sound like a superwoman!!! FYI This is not true. She is a doll...She can't go to medical school!!! She doesnt do sports. Please...she's a plastic doll....Honey, you need a life......You need a life and some more school. She obviously is talking metaphorically about having a medical themed doll, etc. Idiot.
i thought this was really well written
Teen Talk Barbie did not say "Math class is hard!" - She said "Math class is tough!"... Gotta be careful and check your facts....You're seriously going to correct her over one little mistake, the words are synonyms, no need to get your panties in a bunch. All her information is quite correct and your going to fuss over her using a different word that has the same meaning. It's no big deal, no need to correct.
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