Barbie's Negative Influence On Young Girls
Barbie
Since March 9th, 1959 the United States has had a very influential piece of plastic, called the Barbie. Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, of Mattel Inc. after discovering a doll in Germany named Bild Lilli. The Barbie doll was named after Ruth Handler’s daughter, Barbara. The Barbie was introduced to the United Sates at a time when the word “teenager” was becoming a popular trend on television and in movies. A teenager is the time between childhood and adult life. Mattel took the opportunity to release Barbie at this ideal time. It was released as a teenage fashion model. Although the Barbie was pricey, many girls loved the idea and the Barbie doll became a very popular toy. With becoming popular Barbie had a huge impact. Barbie has negatively influenced body image, stereotypical female rolls, and enforced commercialism. Although, it has modernized …show more content…
into positively influencing different body types, cultures and personalities, Barbie has also negatively affected the world by creating its own psychological illness, Barbie syndrome. Barbie is one of the most successful, and still developing toys of this country.
Ruth Handler had an influence of her own in creating the Barbie doll. Her husband, Elliot, was in charge or Mattel, founded with Harold Matson in 1945. Mattel manufactures place frames, furniture, and in 1947 they released a Uke-A-Doodle, which was a plastic ukulele. In the early 1940’s Mattel also created a “burp gun,” which modeled a Soviet submachine gun. This creation solidified Mattel as a supreme toymaker.
Most dolls for young children were made as young children.
When Ruth Handler first watched her daughter play with paper dolls, she noticed her making the young dolls act as adult or teenagers. In 1956, Rush visited Europe and discovered Bild Lilli. The German doll, Bild Lilli, was an adult-figured doll based off of a character in a comic strip, by Reinhard Beuthin, for the newspaper Bild.Lilli was described as a, “blonde bombshell.” She was 11.5 inches, with heavy make-up and full-figured with high heels as feet. She was to represent a working girl who knew what she wanted, and was not against using men to get it. She was first sold to adults in 1955, but soon children began purchasing the doll to dress her up in outfits that they could purchase separately. With Elliot’s connections to Mattel, Ruth found this as a doll making opportunity. The Barbie was a very difficult toy to make. It was very expensive to create, and it was a very explicit doll for young girls. As Ruth fought for this doll, Mattel secured the patent rights and the first Barbie doll made her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York
City.
Barbara Millicent Roberts aka Barbie, stood at 11.5 inches tall, blonde or brunette. Compared to a real female, she would be 5 feet 9 inches tall. Her chest was estimated to be 36 inches, and 18 inch waist and 33 inch hips. (The average woman’s measurements are 41-34-43) Barbie was first dressed in a black and white bathing suit with white sunglasses, black high heels and gold hoop earrings. The outfit was revealing and very different from any other doll ever produced. According to the novels about her published by Random House in the 1960’s, her parents are named George and Margaret Roberts, and they are from Willows, Wisconsin. Barbie went to Willows High School, according to Generation Girl books, she attended Manhattan International High School in New York City. Barbie has a fictional boyfriend, named Ken Carson. He first appeared into the Barbie story in 1961. The relationship is very on and off, giving girls negative ideals on relationships. Barbie also had many pets, including cats, dogs, horses, a panda, a zebra and a lion cub. She also owned many different expensive vehicles including pink corvette convertibles, trailers, and jeeps. Barbie also has a pilot’s license and serves as a flight attendant. Barbie has many careers, she was an astronaut (Miss Astronaut Barbie 1965), a doctor (Doctor Barbie 1988) and a Nascar driver (Nascar Barbie 1998). At first Barbie was not popular because of her diverse appearance. But, in 1959 Mattel sold over 351,000 Barbie dolls. Making Barbie as realistic as possible makes her more relatable to girls around the world. Although this makes Barbie sell more, it also gives off the negative idea to “be” or look like Barbie.
Since March 9th, 1959 the United States has had a very influential piece of plastic, called the Barbie. Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, of Mattel Inc. after discovering a doll in Germany named Bild Lilli. The Barbie doll was named after Ruth Handler’s daughter, Barbara. The Barbie was introduced to the United Sates at a time when the word “teenager” was becoming a popular trend on television and in movies. A teenager is the time between childhood and adult life. Mattel took the opportunity to release Barbie at this ideal time. It was released as a teenage fashion model. Although the Barbie was pricey, many girls loved the idea and the Barbie doll became a very popular toy. With becoming popular Barbie had a huge impact. Barbie has negatively influenced body image, stereotypical female rolls, and enforced commercialism. Although, it has modernized …show more content…
into positively influencing different body types, cultures and personalities, Barbie has also negatively affected the world by creating its own psychological illness, Barbie syndrome. Barbie is one of the most successful, and still developing toys of this country.
Ruth Handler had an influence of her own in creating the Barbie doll. Her husband, Elliot, was in charge or Mattel, founded with Harold Matson in 1945. Mattel manufactures place frames, furniture, and in 1947 they released a Uke-A-Doodle, which was a plastic ukulele. In the early 1940’s Mattel also created a “burp gun,” which modeled a Soviet submachine gun. This creation solidified Mattel as a supreme toymaker.
Most dolls for young children were made as young children.
When Ruth Handler first watched her daughter play with paper dolls, she noticed her making the young dolls act as adult or teenagers. In 1956, Rush visited Europe and discovered Bild Lilli. The German doll, Bild Lilli, was an adult-figured doll based off of a character in a comic strip, by Reinhard Beuthin, for the newspaper Bild.Lilli was described as a, “blonde bombshell.” She was 11.5 inches, with heavy make-up and full-figured with high heels as feet. She was to represent a working girl who knew what she wanted, and was not against using men to get it. She was first sold to adults in 1955, but soon children began purchasing the doll to dress her up in outfits that they could purchase separately. With Elliot’s connections to Mattel, Ruth found this as a doll making opportunity. The Barbie was a very difficult toy to make. It was very expensive to create, and it was a very explicit doll for young girls. As Ruth fought for this doll, Mattel secured the patent rights and the first Barbie doll made her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York
City.
Barbara Millicent Roberts aka Barbie, stood at 11.5 inches tall, blonde or brunette. Compared to a real female, she would be 5 feet 9 inches tall. Her chest was estimated to be 36 inches, and 18 inch waist and 33 inch hips. (The average woman’s measurements are 41-34-43) Barbie was first dressed in a black and white bathing suit with white sunglasses, black high heels and gold hoop earrings. The outfit was revealing and very different from any other doll ever produced. According to the novels about her published by Random House in the 1960’s, her parents are named George and Margaret Roberts, and they are from Willows, Wisconsin. Barbie went to Willows High School, according to Generation Girl books, she attended Manhattan International High School in New York City. Barbie has a fictional boyfriend, named Ken Carson. He first appeared into the Barbie story in 1961. The relationship is very on and off, giving girls negative ideals on relationships. Barbie also had many pets, including cats, dogs, horses, a panda, a zebra and a lion cub. She also owned many different expensive vehicles including pink corvette convertibles, trailers, and jeeps. Barbie also has a pilot’s license and serves as a flight attendant. Barbie has many careers, she was an astronaut (Miss Astronaut Barbie 1965), a doctor (Doctor Barbie 1988) and a Nascar driver (Nascar Barbie 1998). At first Barbie was not popular because of her diverse appearance. But, in 1959 Mattel sold over 351,000 Barbie dolls. Making Barbie as realistic as possible makes her more relatable to girls around the world. Although this makes Barbie sell more, it also gives off the negative idea to “be” or look like Barbie.