ipl-logo

How Did Barbie Change Over Time

1016 Words5 Pages

Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, with assistance from Jack Ryan, an engineer. The controversial toy was released by the brand Mattel in 1959 at the American International Toy Fair in New York. Barbie has had many alterations throughout its years. These changes occurred because of many things, one of which being fashion. The fashion of Barbie has changed due to the change in fashion in the world. Over time, things such as interests have also changed. Beliefs have also changed to fit with new eras and people and their mindset have become more diverse. All of these changes have contributed to the evolution of Barbie, and have helped the development of society.

The fashions of Barbie have changed over time. This is to fit in with the new fashions …show more content…

In the 50s, women were expected to be housewives. This is why Barbie had no careers in the early years; she was just created to look attractive. Over time, she began to have more career options and choices, and there were many new different types of Barbies that were created. Music and dance have also helped shape the change of Barbie. In the 50s, rock and roll was a popular genre of music. This also contributed to the way Barbie looks, and her style of clothing and fashion. The 60s had styles of rock and swing, and this also contributed to Barbie’s style of hair, her more colourful clothes, and general features. In the 70s, disco was very popular, and Barbie began to wear clothes that would be seen at a typical 70s disco. The 80s then arrived, and so did the popular music genres of pop/rock. This then contributed to clothing changes and hair changes. Hair became bigger, and Barbie became even more accessorised and over the top. In the 90s, music styles such as grunge and rap became popular. This saw Barbie having a more grunge style, but she still had bright colours. People’s interests and women’s career options changed, and Barbie changed to suit these …show more content…

The fashions of Barbie have altered due to the changing fashions in society. The interests of people, such as music and career options have become different too. Society’s views on how women should look and behave have also altered, and Barbie has changed to fit with this theme. Barbie has become a huge part of the lives of young girls, and has been a toy that many people have grown up with. Barbie will continue to evolve and become popular in many new ways in the

Show More
Related
276 Words | 2 Pages

In the article “Artificially Yours” by James Vlahos, Mattel has a new Barbie in the market. Hello Barbie is a doll in which has been inserted artificial intelligence (A.I). With the help of ToyTalk, a company based in San Francisco, Mattel was able to come up with a Barbie that would be able to talk to millions of little girls. Hello Barbie has gone through a lot of modifications since her first appearance to the public. Modifications done to Mattel’s new Barbie was that her thighs were slightly thickened to fit a rechargeable battery and a mini USB charging port was installed in her back.

Read More
1115 Words | 5 Pages

Freud states, “When we proceed to review the things, persons, impressions, events, and situations which are able to arouse in us a feeling of the uncanny in a particularly forcible and definite form, the first requirement is obviously to select a suitable example to start on” (Freud 421). By comparing what Freud states it can be seen that the readers and even the narrator reviews exactly how each of the Barbie’s look.   In the end of the story readers find out that these dolls are not as perfect as the narrator makes them out to be, but actually

Read More
659 Words | 3 Pages

The narrator Sherman Alexie in “Indian Education” had a different experience compared to the other narrators. A lot of which well he was growing up he was kind of like the outcast of the group at his reservation. The narrator experienced multiple things ranging from being bullied by his fellow peers, being told by his teacher as quoted in the short story “Indians, indians, indians” (231) Society for the narrator of the short story was mediocre most of the comments made to the narrator where more stereotypically, for example in the seventh and tenth grade people said comments like “Just Indians being Indians” (232) and “What’s that boy been drinking? I know all about these Indian kids. They all start drinking real young.”

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

Barbies were initially created with the western features and characteristics which were desirable at the time: like blue eyes, blonde hair, and gentle curves. They represented the beauty standards which were considered ideal and favored by society. However, these unrealistic standards are difficult to achieve by the average woman. Similarly, Jews also do not fall into a category which represents the quintessential Jew. Jewish people have a wide variety of cultures, customs, traditions, and beliefs which may not fit into the ideal Jew represented by the Jewish faith.

Read More
647 Words | 3 Pages

The development of stereotypes is shown in this short story because one barbie is described with mean eyes and the other one is nice with bubble hair. In the story the barbies smelt like smoke because of the toy warehouse burned down. The girls playing with their barbies state that even though the barbies might smell and have some things wrong with them they are still barbies and fun to play with. The girls

Read More
980 Words | 4 Pages

Barbie is rich, she wears the most expensive clothing and accessories. Barbie symbolizes the societies norm for the perfect women. Just by staring at the Barbie dolls you wouldn't see any negative imperfections. However, if we go far beyond the plastic we can reveal the wide phenomenon the world has of all the types of people in society as a whole. All the products that consumers buy can be used to establish self-identities and social relations.

Read More
1013 Words | 5 Pages

Society is the same thing. In the story, Veronica always wanted the stereotypical barbie doll with blue eyes instead of the imitation doll that may look like her, even if to her the blonde hair doll may not look like her but is beautiful. Throughout the story, she learned that the two dolls may not look alike, but are the same to her in the end. The Story “Barbie” by Gary Soto reflects the theme of what’s on the inside counts and the symbolism for the two dolls, and

Read More
506 Words | 3 Pages

Through the decades, the way Barbie dressed, reflects the fashions of a particular decade. Although Barbie did not create these fashions herself, by wearing certain popular clothes, or having a certain hair style, she has been able to reinforce the popular fashion of the time. What Barbie wore influenced what children might like to wear, and sometimes even influencing parents. Whatever was popular at a certain time, she wore in the most stylish way possible. She wore accessories of all kinds, from hats to handbags to shoes of all colours.

Read More
1144 Words | 5 Pages

The freedom of being able to change Barbie’s clothes into her various wardrobes sold gives the young children playing with her the sense of individuality. Although Barbie has brought a lot of controversy to the table within the years it has been on the shelf, her portrayal has not changed because after all she is just a doll,

Read More
590 Words | 3 Pages

More specifically she represents the embodiment of the mainstream beauty standard (Klein). She became a very significant role in gender socialization among young girls and woman. In the first Barbie commercial ever, if you carefully scrutinize the lyrics, it says “…someday I’m going to be exactly like you, until then I know just what I’ll do, Barbie beautiful Barbie I’ll make believe I am you” these lyrics informs us that Barbie represents a dream to every little girl, how their future should look like. Barbie was able to remain popular in the conservative times of the 50’s by captivating the attention of little girls, they all aspired to look just like her. Barbie was able to uphold some of the messages that dominated that era by represents the gender roles that belong to woman, in the first Barbie commercial, you can see Barbie wearing a wedding dress, symbolizing that every girl/woman desires to become a

Read More
606 Words | 3 Pages

In the short story ''Barbie Q,'' Sandra Cisneros portrays that Barbie dolls can impact girl's lives as they grow up, and influence the way they act and perceive themselves. These girls grow up in a poor family environment considering that they acquired the rest of the dolls in a toys sale after a store burned down. In ‘‘Barbie Q,’’what is the thematic significance of the damaged dolls after the fire? The girl’s enthusiasm to get the new dolls -when they said that they prefer to receive new doll’s clothes- suggests that the meaning of these Barbie dolls is more than just a new toy.

Read More
683 Words | 3 Pages

It is very easy to have influence over young people. The more time that is spent with something, the more influence it has over the person. This was perfect for Barbie. She is a doll and is played with by girls all over the world. She has caused big controversy over her appearance and some people want to make her have a more realistic look.

Read More
770 Words | 4 Pages

Everything and everyone should be treated equal no matter what something or someone looks like. The short story Barbie-Q by Sandra Cisneros proves that. This short story is about two young girls who do not have enough money to afford everything they dream of. All they want is a new Barbie doll to play with. When the two girls get a broken or damaged doll, they do what they can to cover up the flaws that it has.

Read More
1480 Words | 6 Pages

The poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy suggests that girls are fatally and ultimately entrapped by society's definition of what feminine beauty and behavior is. In our society we believe that women should be perfect. We want women to be as flawless as a Barbie doll and in doing so we create many struggles for women because no one can ever achieve that goal. The poem gives off a sense of irony when “society” compares a young girl to a Barbie doll. Our society has an ideal that was created by the influences of popular media and culture that is impossible for anyone to reach.

Read More
1108 Words | 5 Pages

But where did it all start and how did you get to this position? You’re five years old when you receive your first Barbie doll. Your innocent mind looks at the plastic figure as just a symbol of inspiration or a relatable toy used on the playground

Read More

More about How Did Barbie Change Over Time

Related Topics

Open Document