See if you can name this person. She's an astronaut, business woman, world cup player, dentist, doctor, ballerina, and presidential candidate. She drives a Volkswagon, has a steady boyfriend, and owns a horse. Give up? It's Barbie, almost every little girl's favorite doll. It's hard to believe that this little superstar actually started out as a human being!.
The Barbie legend began back in 1959. Ruth Handler was watching her daughter, Barbara, and her friends play. While Ruth watched, she noticed that her daughter and friends did not like to play with baby dolls as much as they preferred to play with dolls that looked more grown up and more like the sophisticated women around them. An idea sparked in Ruth's mind. She sensed that girls use dolls to act out future, rather than current roles, and that it was just as important for girls to imagine what they might grow up to become as it was for them to focus on what caring for children might be like. So, why not create a three dimensional doll that was everything a little girl could dream of being? .
The original Barbie doll was based not only on Ruth Handler's daughter, but on a German doll by the name of Lilli. The shapely Lilli doll wore skimpy clothes and seductive makeup. Handler decided that the Barbie doll should have the same physical build as the Lilli doll, but with more teenage innocence and potential. Mattel toy company backed Handler's idea, and the first patent for Barbie was obtained in 1958. She would be 11 1/2 inches tall, wear a ponytail hairstyle, a black and white zebra swimming suit, earrings and sunglasses. She would have red nails and lips. The Barbie Doll appeared at the American Toy Fair in New York City in 1959. At first the doll did not appeal to toy stores because of it's figure. Toy stores assumed that parents would not know how to deal with giving their child a doll with adult features. However, the dolls immediately caught on to the public and were sold for three dollars a piece.
Barbie was then a teen-age fashion model who was very different to the dolls the kids played with at that time. ... They think if she can do it, then so can they! Barbie has captured the hearts of many children now days. ... Right now Barbie owns about 120 new dresses. ... Barbie is now sold in more than 140 countries around the world. ...
In the poem "Barbie Doll", Marge Piercy talks about and explains the expectations of women in society. ... Self-hatred is probably worse now than it was then. "Barbie Doll" shows how we are taught from a young age what is expected of us. ... "Barbie Doll" talks about how the girl was healthy and happy. ... Then, she felt like that is all everyone saw when they looked at her, and she got tired of being put down and feeling like she wasn't good enough. ...
When I was a young girl, Barbie was the hottest toy on the market. ... Now, do not get me wrong, some of my best friends played with Barbie dolls and are no different from myself. ... As a result of that independence, I am now a responsible, methodical individual. ... If this is believed to be true, then it is very likely that I chose to play soccer and behave the way I do today because of my free will. ... At this juncture, one might then question what theory is plausible for all the actions apparent in my childhood. ...
Barbie as the Epitome of Beauty 1. ... There are women that eat everything that they want, and then feel guilty for feeling that full and purge everything, causing extreme harm to their bodies. Then there are the girls who hate themselves for eating, and that makes them depressed, which makes them eat even more and hate themselves more. All of this is because of the idea that the media puts forth that if you do not look like that images in the magazines then you are not beautiful. 2. ... Barbie had now redefined what it is like to be a feminine in our society. ...
Perhaps the new Barbie or G.I. ... Now, looking back, I have to ask myself what the possible motivation of the toy industry could be. ... There are clear differences, then, in the way toys are being marketed to boys and girls.... ... Of course the child will then emulate what is presented on the magical picture box, no questions asked. ... Joe and the Barbie doll. ...
Now whenever someone says something stupid it is referred to as "pulling a Jessica." ... Well, if 25 is not the number exactly between 20 and 30, then I need to go back to math class. ... Not only is Barbie good-looking, she is also intelligent. ... Barbie is now a doctor, nurse, flight attendant, schoolteacher or a veterinarian. ... How could Barbie have become and astronaut if she was a dumb blonde? ...
"How, in the year 2003 - when women are visible as astronauts, engineers, police officers, construction workers and other professions that shoe then in non-traditional gender roles - can it be so hard for a 6-year-old child to accept a group of woman winning a race or two on a TV show?" ... So aside from the fact that they strongly impose how impressionable children should act, what's so wrong with Barbie and G.I. ... "She [Barbie] has come to represent what we most admire and fear about ourselves." (Barbie p. 365) Sadly, the only thing to admire about Barbie is her looks, not her mind. ...
A Barbie doll is by denotation only a toy little girls play with. ... To her the "Barbie Doll" is the perfect person and she wants to be like the Barbie doll. ... Then in magic of puberty, a classmate said: You have a great big nose and fat legs" (Page 115). ... Many people associate a Barbie doll to be the perfect example of a woman. ... May be it means a new life and the speaker doesn't know what was before that, he doesn't know how he was able to live without the love he feels now. ...
The narrator felt an instant bond to the girl exclaiming, "She reached me now as well, hanging in my mind" (Dickey). ... The "Barbie Doll" appearance to a young girl is a picture perfect body, flawless makeup and long, beautiful blonde hair. ... The thoughts from the "Barbie Doll" shows the girl stresses about her appearance as she wants to look her best. ... The casket in which the girl-child lay reflects her peaceful repose, only upon death, as she is now that flawless "Barbie Doll, dressed in a pink and white nightie" (Piercy) which reflects an immature individual with skin deep beauty. ...
