First Black Barbie Research Paper

In 1980, the first African American Barbie was introduced to the world , 21 years after the original Barbie was created. The African American doll had a small waist and skinny legs, which is similar to the original Caucasian Barbie. (Reel & Soohoo, 2008) Many say that the creation of the first African American Barbie doll was the start of negative body image within the African American community. People say this because the new Barbie promoted certain societal views that are very much still present today. When people think of body image, they automatically relate it to upper class Caucasian women. This association causes people to believe that African American women are happy with the way they look because they do not go the extra mile to look like other ethnic groups. (Reel & Soohoo, 2008) Just because African American women do not always openly talk about their bodies, does not mean they are satisfied with the way they look.

While Barbie is known for giving off a bad message for children's body image, however she also has a very empowering massage. Many grownups believe that barbie has unrealistic body standards for young girls to look up to. Yet, many 6 to 10 year olds are not worrying about their body at this time of their life. Barbie was created in 1959, based off of Ruth Handler’s daughter’s fascination with an older doll. Her daughter wanted a teenage or grown up doll(“History”). Barbie was created by Ruth to show that a woman can do any job or any profession. "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 a woman has choices."(“History”). In the 60’s and 90’s this was big because of all the women equality movements going on in America. Barbie also helps girls imagination. In a video recently released on Barbie’s website, it shows how Barbie can help a girl's imagination. In the video multiple young girls are seen doing grownup jobs. In the end it shows a little girl acting out the same jobs with her barbie dolls(“Imagine”). This shows that Barbie can help a girl imagine she can do anything just like the Barbie catch phrase, “Be who you want to be”. Barbie also has diversity. Christe, Barbie’s African American Best friend, was created to help make Barbie more diverse(Sherrow). There are even Latino Barbies

The Barbie doll is an eleven-inch-long plastic doll that was the first representation of an adult woman. The original Barbie doll, built in 1959, looked as such, going from head to toe. The doll’s skin color was white. The hair color was available in either blonde or brunette put up in a ponytail. The face: the eyes were constructed with white irises, heavy black eyeliner, blonde or brown eyebrows, blush, and red lips. As for clothing, she wore a black and white striped swimsuit with gold hoop earrings. Along with her came two accessories of black open toe heels

3. Barbie dolls came into existence in 1959. During that time all dolls were infant dolls and Ruth Handler creator of the barbie dolls saw that “children will enjoy giving the Barbie adult roles” because it is different than playing with infant dolls. It has evolved over time, due to the improving technology, the dolls these days look very realistic. The social impact it has made is that it gives children a chance to play with more advanced toys and gives them the ability to admire Barbie’s achievements through her various career

Dolls before Barbie were designed incorporating the ideals of a mans era and the conformity of a women's role in the world. Barbie may have set the stage for the 1960's generation by exposing the youth to verity and free choice. Yet there is another matter in which Barbie may flawed.

Picture yourself as the ‘perfect’ woman. Embodying every woman’s dream. You are undeniably gorgeous, weighing in at 100 pounds, standing 6 feet tall and holding nearly 150 careers (barbiemedia.com). Yes, this is the beloved, ever so ‘inspirational’ childhood toy, the perfectly perfect Barbie Doll. Barbie is America’s most beloved toy, considering young girls between the ages of three and eleven own at least 10 Barbie’s throughout their childhood (‘Life in Plastic’). As creator of the Barbie Doll once said, “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented that a woman has choices,” (Handler). However, Barbie has proved to serve the opposite effect and

At such a young age, children (including myself) simply wanted a doll to play with. We did not realize at the time that the original American Girl Dolls were more than their ability to throw a great tea party. The original American Girl Dolls weren't "regular" dolls. They came with a history, and their stories help young children learn and love history.To begin, the American Girl Doll franchise was created by Pleasant Rowland. Rowland and her team created each doll with a historical time period in mind, and each American Girl Doll came with its own "meet me" type book. These dolls were educational. First, Rowland created Kaya (1764). Kaya is from the Nimiipuu tribe and she teaches young girls and boys about leadership, courage, and the customs of a Native American tribe. Young girls and boys learn about a culture different from their own with Kaya. Following Kaya, is Felicity Merriman (1774). Felicity grew up during the American Revolution. Not only does she teach young girls and boys about the war, but Felicity teaches them about the

Barbie was introduced to the public in 1959 by Mattel, and swiftly established the place in thousands of households. Barbie generated huge sales, dominating the place in the market. Within one year of her founding, Mattel had sold 300, 000 dolls and with the sales now reaching up to 3 Barbie dolls being sold every second worldwide. The creator, Ruth Handler came up with the idea when she saw her daughter abandoning her baby dolls and playing with a paper cut out adult doll instead. So she created Barbie based on what the kids appealed to at the time. Ruth discovered that little girls were interested in growing up, hence they preferred playing with adult-figured dolls rather than baby dolls. So in 1959, barbie adopted the look of a typical blonde

Discerning gentlemen have come to trust the elite level of companionship available at DC Barbies. Our glorious ladies are everything astute men desire when seeking a clandestine escape with a sophisticated woman prepared to erase the day’s stress and pave the way to forgetting life for a while. No matter what your penchants, we have the young woman equipped to wow you from the moment she passes through your door. Catering to refined tastes is our forte, and our impressive list of repeat clients speaks to our dedication to quality entertainment, fully enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.

In New York on March 9, 1959, Mattel introduced the Barbie doll to America. The thin, teenage fashion model that has a perfect slender nose, big eyes, a valumptuious bust, a narrow midsection, and curvy hips. It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries. Barbie is one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy based extensively on television advertising, which has been widely copied by other toys. Barbie has also appeared in a series of animated films such as Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. Barbie’s petite figure, perfectly arched eyebrows, and plastic smile has become the desired American image that many teenage

Barbie was created in 1959, in the USA. Her first ever look, outfit was a black and white swim suit, ever since then she has had many changes over the years, like different hairstyles, different styles and different beliefs. She became a fad in 1959 when she was created. Barbie had different career interests, like being a doctor and being a space barbie.

a. Girls, this is a question for you. How many of you have had Barbie dolls growing up? (Have time to answer)

In fact, the Barbie doll was so popular that three years after her release in 1959 Mattel was still filling orders from her first year (Long 17).

Ruth Handler realized that pretending about the future was a part of the growing up process. While she watched her daughter, Barbara (who Barbie is named after), playing with paper dolls, Handler formulated the idea of creating an adult doll. This was not necessarily a new idea because there were adult fashion dolls, such as Cissy and Miss Revlon, which were on the market. The phenomenon behind Barbie was that she was an affordable toy that had those same grown up accessories as the other adult dolls.

b. Barbie’s appearance was modeled on a doll named Lilli, based on a German comic strip character. Originally marketed as a racy gag gift to adult men in tobacco shops, the Lilli doll later became extremely popular with children. Mattel bought the rights to Lilli and made its own version, which Handler named after her daughter, Barbara..