Research Paper On Ruth Handler

Ruth Handler, American television author of several iconic shows, once remarked “If necessity is the mother of invention, urgency is the uncle of change. Without it progress slows then reverses”. Society’s mistakes and faults can encourage people to make adjustments and change the course of history. If no one steps up to perform this advancement, then we will continue to move back, not forward. Ruth Handler was born on November 4, 1916. Her parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. She was the youngest of 10 siblings. The innovator attended Denver East High School, where Ruth met her long-time boyfriend, Elliot Handler. After high school, she studied at the University of Denver. She married Elliot Handler and had two children. She battled breast

Dolls are miniature representations of human beings made for use by children. Barbie was an eleven-inch-tall toy that was inspired by a doll Ruth saw on her trip to Switzerland with her husband and two children (Who Made America?, n.d). The doll started out as a young adult plastic figure. She had blonde hair with curled bangs and a black and white striped bathing suit. The managers and CEOs of Mattel thought that mothers would not buy a fully matured doll for their child. In the past, young girls were confined to toys like baby dolls, but Barbie was different. Handler’s creation started out as a woman in a bathing suit, but became as a result of the urge for change. She was an astronaut, doctor, fashion designer, scientist, author, teacher and so much more. Ruth Handler made Barbie so that girls would realize they could be more than mothers. Some people thought it was stereotypical and induced women and girls to feel bad about themselves. Despite some negative responses, Barbie remains a very popular product and is played with by young women all over the world. After its success the company branched out and made houses, cars, clothes, accessories, different aged dolls, and

Although baby dolls remained toys girls played with, Barbie stole the show. After this invention, all dolls thereafter were vastly different. This product was also one of the first toys to be directly advertised to kids, not their parents. Soon more toys were designed to appeal to children. After Barbie’s success, dolls began to look more grown up with adult-like features. Baby dolls are always made the same way. They had hair, arms, and legs, but the Barbie company featured dolls with no hair, diverse skin tones, prosthetic legs, wheelchairs, and clothing from all around the world. Girls had a way to visualize and see their future in the doll. As Barbie becomes more diverse than ever, people can find dolls that like them and have the same career aspirations (“How Barbie Helped”, n.d). Products like Rainbow High Dolls would not be here today if Ruth Handler did not transform the way dolls were made and marketed. Handler’s creation has greatly shifted society. Young girls had a role model they could employ as inspiration for their futures. Girls are now able to be more than mothers in their