Ruth Handler Research Paper

The Businesswoman and the Inventor

Ruth Handler once said “They were using the dolls to project their dreams of their own futures as adult women” (Handler). Ruth Handler was a businesswoman and an inventor of the Barbie doll and the Ken doll. Handler and her husband, Elliot Handler, partnered with Harold “Matt” Matson and started a furniture business for toy dollhouses, their company was called Mattel. Ruth Handler got the idea of creating the Barbie doll by watching her daughter Barbara Handler play with a paper doll and pretending they were adults. Later on in the years, she created the Ken doll for Barbie and named it after their son Kenneth Handler. Ruth Handler has made an unbelievable impact on America through her journey with the Ruthton

Ruthton Corp. has made women feel amazing about their body for those who had mastectomy. “With the help of expert craftsman Peyton Massey, Handler designed a line of realistic artificial breasts fashioned from foam and silicon. She called the product "Nearly Me" and formed the Ruthton Corporation to sell it. Intent on demystifying what was a taboo subject in the 1970s, Handler became an outspoken advocate for early detection of breast cancer and offered her prosthetics as a way for women to feel good about themselves again” (“Handler” 185). The prosthesis breast Ruth Handler has made women feel comfortable in their own skin. Ruth wanted everyone to know that what she was saying about the prosthesis breast were not taboo she opened her blouse so they could determine which one was real. “One rather unorthodox method she used to get her point across was to open her blouse during interviews, demanding that the interviewer physically determine which of her breasts was real” (“Handler” 185). Handler was a brave woman and did not just think about herself when it came to her personal life. She thought about other women who went through what she went through. Ruth Handler did not just help adult women but also young