ALFREDO MENDOZA
Staff Writer
The quintessential toy has been a staple in American culture since its release having its fair share of controversy and its own positive moments. Yet no matter what happens it seems like Barbie is one of those toys that will never die, let’s talk about it. For starters let’s look at the facts and why this iconic brand is known to be so popular. One thing to note is that one-hundred barbies are sold every minute. Along with that information it is estimated that a Barbie dream house is sold every two minutes. It doesn’t just stop there with them retailing over 45 categories of toys including food, clothing, etc. The brand is even taking over social media holding millions of subscribers globally and on different platforms. Now that we know how big this brand is today, let’s go back in time to look at the roots of the booming toy. The first time that a Barbie doll was invented in 1959 by an American businesswoman named Ruth Handler. Ruth co-founded Mattel (one of the biggest toy producers) and shortly after invented the infamous barbie doll. Weirdly enough the doll she created was inspired by a Risque Adult Lilli Doll from 1956 created in Germany. After this idea came about it was manufactured and introduced at the American International Toy Fair where it sold for only $3.00. Barbie was first unveiled in her now iconic black and white striped bathing suit
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She is an 11-inch tall doll, her full name is Barbra Millicent Roberts (named after Handler’s daughter), and she is from Willows Wisconsin. Children were in love with her for the look and backstory and it was produced and sold throughout America quickly. The same year she was unveiled she starred in her very own commercial during a screening of ¨Mickey Mouse Club(1959)¨. This brand of doll took off and kids were loving it but you know who wasn’t? You guessed it…Parents! It was actually even before the original release that parents criticized the doll for ¨Having too much of a figure…¨. The inventors fixed the said issue yet there was still a boatload of complaints and controversy. Nevertheless, children still wanted to buy this doll. The original release was sort of aiding feminism by de-popularizing the then-baby doll which influenced young girls into traditional motherhood/wife roles. While it did some good it was still in the form of an almost impossible body type for young girls to try and achieve, which made it dangerous for mental and physical help. Our toys growing up influence us more than we think, if you grow up with nothing but the ¨perfect social ¨ body type and fit outside of that it can take a toll on your self-worth. This marked the first controversy with the brand and what’s worse is that there wasn’t a plus-sized body type until 2016 almost 60 years after the first doll. Even then the first black and first Latina doll was produced in 1980 20 years after the first doll ever. The first Asian doll came a year after that and this showed the early lack of representation and racism.
In these 60 years, there’s been more controversy than you can count. From promoting eating disorders, blatant racism, misogyny, ableism, and just straight-up disturbing dolls. Yet children keep loving them and coming back for the more popular dolls like the 1992s ¨Totally Hair Barbie, which sold over ten million barbies. This toy was definitely the blueprint for other doll brands but none have been as resilient as Barbie. As a matter of fact, people believe that Barbie was the cause of many other dolls’ downfalls. For one, when Bratz was the headlining toy of the 2000s it was Mattel that convinced buyers that the dolls were too trashy for young girls. Soon after the doll company as a whole fell off the shelf.
We’ve seen the same happenings with my scene where people believed they were too grown up for kids.
Then after reaching maximum success Monster High dolls were too scary for kids.
There was even a lawsuit placed against ¨Ever After High¨ for imitating ¨Descendants¨ and they ended the same way the rest did.
Another doll brand off the shelf leaving parents to go back to Barbie. So what makes Barbie so indestructible? And how can one doll have so much history? How can one brand have more controversies yet easily eliminate other brands for minor details? One theory circulating is that parents feel safe with Barbie considering how old of a brand it is. Most parents these days grew up with Barbie and see nothing wrong with it. It’s almost like a ¨Well I had a Barbie and I turned out just fine¨. Another theory has to do with the affordability of the doll and how the company adapted to the fast-changing economy. You see they used to be these high-quality stunning fashion dolls but now it’s almost as if they stopped trying with how the dolls look and this affects how cheap it is. Instead of carefully crafted clothes and accessories, it’s all plastic polyester printed on designs that most people ( besides kids ) would see as outdated and ugly. Which is honestly a smart move on their part. Yet it takes away its roots as a fashion doll which (let’s be honest) should be a title revoked considering its recent designs. For them money is money, business is business and that’s okay but look at flourishing doll companies today. Like MGMs fashion forward Rainbow High Dolls.
Or the same brands re-released Bratz dolls that pay attention to details and focus on fashion, they nail the looks every time and they are still able to thrive successfully. It makes sense that MGM dolls are probably geared toward a more mature crowd while Barbie focuses on making children happy. The new Margot Robbie movie has fans buzzing with anticipation for the doll’s culture to come to the big screen. Barbie has always been a fantasy and an escape for children and adults alike. Barbie will forever be a company that adapts and innovates, always following in the footsteps of Ruth Handler. And Barbie just doesn’t know how to quit which is what makes this doll so baffling. And yes she is never going away but that is not a bad thing in the slightest considering how much work the brand has done to innovate and include.
Let’s face it Barbie is indestructible.
