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…
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
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…
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