| Index:
Bild-Lilli,
Barbie's predecessor
Barbie's
Introduction
Barbie's
early history
Barbie's
biography
Barbie
the doll
Barbie's
Manufacturers Markings
Barbie's
friends and relatives
Ethnic
Barbie's
Barbie's
fashion
Barbie
through the ages, 1959 - 2009
Barbie
luxury doll to massproduction
Barbie
as collectors object
Silkstone
Barbie doll
How
to care Barbie's head?
How
to care Barbie's body?
How
to care Barbie's clothes?
Barbie
versus Bratz
Dolls
of the My Scene-line
The
five different collector types
Glossary
of Abbreviations
Miscellaneous
|
|
Already the
first Barbie doll was criticized that she promotes an unrealistic idea
of body image
(39-18-33 inches
or 29-46-84 cm) which corresponded rather to the male fantasy instead to
the
actual measurements
of a normal young woman. Thus the self-confidence of girls could suffer
more than it
would encourage them.
Thus, Jack Ryan,
the sixth husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, redesigned the doll.
The chest width
was reduced while the waist slightly widened
(however even
these new measurements did not match the reality, but the critics ceased).
1991 a doll named
"Happy to be Me" was brought in the shelves by another manufacturer,
her proportions
looked more realistic, but she did not sell and disappeared after a few
Years
from the market.
Repeatedly Barbie’s figure was blamed to lead to eating disturbances and
girls who attempt
to emulate her will become anorexic. Barbie-dolls could become a
bad example for
young girls. According to a British research,of the University of Sussex,
the blonde toy-dolls
with their ultra narrow waist suggest children to be a role model,
as a result even
small girls will be dissatisfied with their own bodies,reported the Sunday
Times.
For this study
pychologist Helga Dittmar showed pictures of different dolls to 200
girls,
aged from five
to eight Years – among them were Barbies and other dolls with more
natural proportions.
At the end the children had been interviewed how they liked their own bodies.
And to the girls
in the «Barbie-Group» the dissatisfaction was notably
higher.
A speaker of the
Barbie-manufacturer: Mattel defended their dolls: «Barbie is not
created to
scale with the
human body. Barbie allows every girl to dream about the adult world and
that they can
be whatever they wish», he quoted. The actual reason for this might
be
the unnatural
beauty ideals of the western world, which are not caused by the doll,
but simply reflect
a logical symptom.
Feminist groups
regularely criticized Barbie, claiming she would represent a status symbol
of a traditional
female image and animate women for noncritic consuming.
Although Ruth
Handler planned the doll as an alternative to all the babydolls that were
almost
exclusively sold
in the fifties, which were intended to train the young girls for their
mother role.
Barbie was
first sold wearing only a swimming suit; the children should develop the
dolls personality
by themselves. Therefore Barbie has been offered different wardrobes
and work clothing
every Year; 1961 even a doctoral hat and a cassock.
Following Ruth
Handler’s retirement from Mattel (1973) the policy was changed to set up
the dolls for
specific themes like: Pop culture, animal love or sports, they were dressed
accordingly and
sold with all suitable accessories. The focal points are eversince trivial
themes, like
make up, hairstyles and fashion designs, and therefore the doll became
a symbol fort
the superficiality of today’s value-conscious society. As always Barbie
is a
still a working
woman without husband and children, but with her own house and
a car - quite
different to her friend Midge - Mattel never allowed Barbie to get married!
Barbie’s popularity
ensures that her effect on the play of Western children attracts
a high degree
of scrutinity. The children consider this doll a role model and will
attempt to emulate
her.
|
....In
September 2003 Saudi-Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie-dolls, saying that
she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The committee fort he propagation
of virtue and prevention of vice stated „Jewish Barbie dolls, with their
revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol
of decadence to the perverted west. Let us beware of her dangers and be
careful.“ In the Middle Eastern countries there is an alternative doll
called Fulla which is similar to Barbie but designed to be more acceptable
to an Islamic market. Fulla is not made by Mattel Corporation, and Barbie
is still available in other, less strict Middle Eastern countries including
Egypt. In Iran Sara and Dara dolls are available as an alternative to Barbie.
The word Barbie
has come to be used as a derogatory slang term for a girl or woman who
is considered shallow, most notably in the 1997 Pop song Barbie Girl (see
Parodies and lawsuits below).
In July 1992 Mattel
released Teen Talk Barbie, which spoke a number of phrases including „Will
we ever have enough clothes?“, “I love shopping!“, and „Wanna have a pizza
party?“ Each doll was programmed to say four out of 270 possible phrases,
so that no two dolls were likely to be the same. One of the most common
criticisms of Barbie ist that she promotes an unrealistic idea of body
image for a young woman, leading to a risk that girls who attempt to emulate
her will become anorexic.
According to research
of the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, she would lack
the 17 to 22 percent body fat required for a woman to menstruate. In 1965
Slumber party Barbie came with a book entitled How to lose weight
which advised: „don’t eat.“ The doll also came with pink bathroom scales
reading 110lbs, which would be around 35lbs underweight for a woman 5 feet
9 inches tall. In 1997 Barbie’s body mold was redesigned and given a wider
waist, with Mattel saying only: that this would make the doll better suited
to contemporary fashion designs.
Oreo Fun Barbie
in 1997 became controversial due to a negative interpretation of the doll’s
name. At that time Mattel joined forces with Nabisco to launch a cross-promotion
of Barbie with Oreo Cookies. As it had become a custom, Mattel manufactured
both a white and a black version. Critics argued that in the African American
community Oreo is a derogatory term meaning that the person is „black on
the outside and white on the inside,“ like the chocolate sandwich cookie
itself. The doll was unsuccessful and Mattel recalled the unsold stock,
making it sought after by collectors.
„Colored Francie“
made her debut in 1967, and she is sometimes described as the first African
American Barbie doll. However, she was produced using the existing head
molds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics
other than a dark skin. The first African American doll in the Barbie range
is usually regarded as Christie, who made her debut in 1968. Black Barbie
and Hispanic Barbie were launched in 1980.
In May 1997 Mattel
introduced Share a Smile Becky, a doll in a pink wheelchair.Kjersti Johnson,
a 17-Year-old high school student in Tacoma, Washington with cerebral palsy,
pointed out that the doll would not fit in the elevator of Barbie’s $ 100
Dream house. Mattel announced that it would redesign the house in the future
to accommodate the doll.
In March 2000
stories appeared in the media claiming that the hard vinyl used in vintage
Barbie dolls could leak toxic chemicals, causing danger to children playing
with them. The claim was rejected as false by technical experts. A modern
Barbie doll has a body made from ABS plastic, while the head is made from
soft PVC.
In December 2005
Dr. Agnes Nairn at the Universty of Bath in England published research
suggesting that girls often go through a stage where they hate their Barbie
dolls and subject them to a range of punishments, including decapitation
and placing them into a microwave oven. Dr. Nairn said: „ It’s as though
disavowing Barbie is a rite of passage and a rejection of their past.“
In March 2009,
West Virginia Delegate Jeff Eldridge introduced a bill to „ban the sale
of barbie dolls and other dolls that influence girls to be beautiful“ within
the state of West Virginia. The bill does not provide a punishment for
violation, and Delegate Eldridge admited that the bill «doesn’t have
a
lot of theeth.»