#ThrowBackThursday: The immergence of the iconic Barbie

This year marks the 64th anniversary of the birth of the iconic Barbie doll, which has become a must-have item in any young girl’s toy box.

Barbie was born on March 9, 1959, the day she debuted at the American International Toy Fair. Barbie was created by businesswoman Ruth Handler to show young girls that they could be anything they wanted to be, that ‘a woman has options,’ and she quickly became a global icon.

Barbie has constantly reinvented herself, changing her clothes to match the latest trends and adapting her image in response to broader social and cultural change, with varying degrees of success.

Barbie’s evolution has been contentious at times, but before we get into her inspirational triumphs and contentious failures, we must first examine her long and fascinating history.

1950: Ponytail Barbie is Born

The first Barbie doll, inspired by 1950s movie stars, was fully made up with red lips, black eyeliner, and perfectly arched brows. She wore a strapless zebra striped swimsuit and had either blonde or brunette hair styled in an Audrey Hepburn ponytail.

1960: Barbie meets Ken, buys her dream home and has her first scandal

Barbie’s fashion sense evolved with the times, and by 1960, she had abandoned the brittle and bouffant styling of the 1950s, as exemplified by First Lady Jackie Kennedy, and had begun to embrace the playful and colorful Mod era.

Barbie’s makeup became less harsh, and her hair grew longer and sleeker. Barbie was available for the first time with ‘Titian’ red hair, bendable legs, and eyes that opened and closed.

Barbie’s physical transformation was dramatic, but her lifestyle changes were equally noticeable. Barbie began dating boyfriend Ken in 1961, and the couple moved into their dream home in 1962.

With a new home and a new man, Barbie was surrounded by new friends and family, including her lifelong best friend Midge and her younger sister Skipper.

Mattel introduced ‘Colored Francie,’ the first African-American doll to join Barbie’s circle of friends, in 1967. Both Francie and Christie, who arrived a year later, had dark skin, but designers used the same mold as they did for ‘Caucasian Barbie,’ so all of the dolls had the same facial features.

Barbie’s first major controversy occurred in 1963, when ‘Barbie Baby-Sits’ was introduced. Barbie Baby-Sits came with a baby in a crib, a telephone, a few bottles of soda, and a book.

Unfortunately, the book was called How to Lose Weight and had only one page of advice, ‘Don’t Eat’. The backlash from this bizarre nod to extreme dieting was insufficient to prevent Mattel from including the book in the accessory pack of another Barbie doll in 1965.

‘Slumber Party Barbie’ dressed in pink silk pajamas and a matching robe and arrived at her sleepover prepared with toiletries, a mirror, the same diet book, and a set of scales permanently set at 110 pounds.

1970: Malibu Barbie is introduced

Barbie initially embraced 70’s fashion, declaring her devotion to an alternative lifestyle with long flowing skirts, tasseled jackets, and long, flowing hair.

However, the alternative ‘Live Action Barbie’ lasted only a year before being replaced. ‘Malibu Barbie’ was released in 1971, at a time when American society was under strain due to violent anti-war protests, economic instability, and ongoing civil rights battles.

‘Malibu Barbie’ was marketed as the ultimate surfer girl, with a new sculpted face that featured an open smile for the first time, sun-tanned, make-up-free skin, and sun-kissed hair.

The most noticeable change in Malibu Barbie’s appearance was the removal of Barbie’s coy, sideways glance and the introduction of forward-looking eyes, which feminists welcomed. Malibu Barbie portrayed an empowered and relaxed persona at a time when many Americans felt the opposite.

1980: Barbie Becomes a Career Girl

Under Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s, American politics took a dramatic rightward turn. It was the era of the ‘yuppie,’ a new young urban professional who lived in the city, worked a high-powered job, and prioritized consumption in daily life.

During this time, more women entered the labor force than ever before, thanks to a liberal economic policy that rewarded those who worked as well as decades of struggle for equal rights.

Barbie was no longer limited to the roles of housewife or eternal surfer girl, with the introduction of ‘Dr. Barbie,’ ‘Astronaut Barbie,’ and ‘Pilot Barbie’ in the 1980s.

‘Day to Night Barbie,’ introduced in 1985, was a yuppie Barbie, complete with office accessories and an evening gown so Barbie could go straight from the office to a swanky city party.

Big was beautiful in the 1980s, and shoulder pads, corkscrew perms, scrunchies, and chunky jewelry typified the era.

Barbie was perfectly positioned to ride the wave of the new teen culture, which brought screaming into American homes with the introduction of MTV, and in 1986, Barbie fronted her own band, wearing leggings, a hairpiece, and a lot of neon.

Barbie has even made an appearance in the art world. In the mid-1980s, BillyBoy*, a New York jewelry designer, was one of the world’s foremost Barbie doll collectors and had collaborated with Mattel to design two new dolls.

1990: Barbie Talks, Befriends a Wheelchair User, and Eats Oreos

America prospered in the 1990s – the economy grew, the Soviet Empire fell apart, and the digital age was born – but the decade could be described as Barbie’s most contentious.

It got off to a good start. The launch of ‘Barbie for President’ in 1992, known as the ‘Year of Women’ in American politics, saw Barbie lead her first presidential campaign. Despite her admirable presidential campaign, Barbie found herself in the news for spreading sexism through her ‘Teen Talk Barbie’ mouthpiece.

Mattel released a Barbie doll in July 1992 that could finally respond to the millions of young girls who had been talking to her for the previous four decades.

Unfortunately, among Teen Talk Barbie’s 270 programmable phrases were such insightful statements as “I love shopping!” and “Math class is difficult!”

Mattel was persuaded to remove the offensive phrases from Teen Talk Barbie’s repertoire after public pressure from the American Association of University Women.

Mattel released the ill-conceived ‘Oreo Fun Barbie’ in 1997. Oreo Fun Barbie was created in collaboration with Nabisco, the makers of Oreo cookies, and was designed to be a playmate for young girls to share ‘America’s favorite cookie’ with.

Oreo Fun Barbie was released in both white and black versions, causing outrage in African-American communities who saw ‘Oreo’ as a derogatory term. The doll was quickly recalled and is now considered one of the most valuable Barbie collectibles.

Soon after the Oreo debacle, Mattel came under fire again for the release of ‘Share a Smile Becky,’ a doll with a pink wheelchair. Unfortunately, Share a Smile Becky faced some of the same accessibility issues that people in wheelchairs face in everyday life: her wheelchair couldn’t navigate Barbie’s Dream House, couldn’t fit into the elevator, and couldn’t fit inside any of Barbie’s vehicles.

Becky’s long hair also had a habit of getting caught in the wheels of her wheelchair. Despite her initial success, ‘Share a Smile Becky’ was soon discontinued.

Despite all of these controversies, Barbie remained at the top of toy store bestseller lists in the 1990s, possibly due to the abundance of options.

‘Totally Hair Barbie,’ who had hair twice as long as her dress, ‘Gymnast Barbie,’ ‘Mermaid Barbie,’ and, of course, ‘Generation Girl Barbie,’ were all hugely popular.

2000: Barbie dumps Ken, turns 50, and dons a racy new look

Barbie looked younger and more fashionable than ever before with the release of ‘Jewel Girl Barbie’ in the year 2000, and in 2004, Barbie jumped on the celebrity bandwagon of the very public breakup, officially ending her relationship with Ken mere weeks after Britney and Justin called it quits.

Barbie, now 50 years old and newly single, underwent a major image change in 2008 when ‘Black Canary Barbie’ hit toy stores. This Barbie, based on a DC comic character, wore black patent leather shorts and jacket with fishnet stockings, prompting a number of Christian organizations to protest Mattel’s overt sexualization of Barbie.

Barbie got her first tattoo a year later, with the release of ‘Totally Stylin’ Tattoos Barbie,’ which featured a lower back tattoo spelling out K-E-N. Some stores removed the doll from their shelves after receiving customer complaints, but in 2011, a Barbie with even more elaborate tattoos across her neck, chest, arms, and shoulders was released in collaboration with the L.A. fashion company tokidoki.

2010: Barbie becomes an entrepreneur, a swimsuit cover girl, and finally diversifies

Barbie became ‘Entrepreneur Barbie’ in 2014, with the support of ten real-life entrepreneurs, including Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, and Jennifer Hyman and Jenny Fleiss of Rent the Runway.

In the same year, Barbie landed the cover of Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, wearing a version of her original zebra swimsuit and featuring the tagline ‘the doll who started it all’.

Mattel launched ‘Hello Barbie,’ a technologically advanced version of Teen Talk Barbie with two-way conversation, in 2015, using similar technology to Apple’s Siri. Hello Barbie is equipped with a microphone and some artificial intelligence, which means that the more she is spoken to, the more appropriate her responses are.

An internet security firm, however, expressed concern about the possibility of Hello Barbie’s servers being hacked, which means hackers could take over the home’s wifi network and access other devices, as well as potentially eavesdrop through Barbie’s microphone. Mattel quickly addressed these concerns, but the publicity surrounding Hello Barbie’s security issues hurt the doll’s popularity.

As a result of these technological growing pains, Mattel shifted its focus away from the internet and toward Barbie herself, launching two new lines representing various ethnicities and body shapes.

Barbie Fashionista dolls come in seven different skin tones, representing African-American, Asian, and mixed race features, 14 different hairstyles, and, incredibly, a variety of shoe options. Barbie has been blessed with bendable ankles for the first time, allowing her to finally wear flats.

Another new Barbie doll line, #thedollevolves, is attempting to debunk Barbie’s image as an unrealistic portrayal of the female form.

Three new body shapes are now available: petite, tall, and curvy, which can be combined with a variety of skin tones, eye colors, and hair styles, including afro and curly red hair.

The impact of toys on children’s body image is firmly on the children’s health agenda, and the reaction to Mattel’s attempt to better represent the bodies of real women has been largely positive in the mainstream press and on social media.

Barbie is still being chastised for her unrealistic proportions, with the BBC reporting that even the new curvy Barbie would have a waist equivalent to a UK size 6-8 if scaled up to full size.

‘Barbie is a doll,’ said Sarah Allen, Mattel UK’s representative. She is not meant to be a representation of a real woman’s body.’

Barbie Today

Barbie has never, and probably never will, reflect a real woman’s body, which digital artist Nikolay Lamm addressed with the release of his Lammily doll in 2014. Lammily’s proportions are based on the measurements of the average 19-year-old American woman, and the tagline “average is beautiful” is used. Haneefah Adam, a master’s graduate from Nigeria, has taken Barbie’s diversification efforts to the next level by introducing the Hijarbie, a doll with the mission of combining fashion and faith. In just a few months, an Instagram account featuring a doll wearing an Islamic veil gained tens of thousands of followers.

Barbie has navigated the volatile world of fashion for over a decade, remaining in the best-seller section of the toy store while other toys have come and gone. Barbie, no stranger to controversy, has attempted to innovate and keep up with technological advances, with mixed results. Regardless of her successes or failures, Barbie is a global icon, the original and best fashion doll in the world.

Article sourced from: https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/the-history-of-the-barbie-doll/

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