BLONDE AMBIT IONSarah Speidel

Center For Social Justice

Blonde AmbitionToys are windows into a cultures dreams, its fantasies, its ambitions, and even its fears. No

cultural artifact is more revealing about the role and desires of women in the 20th century than

Mattel's Barbie doll. As the position of women has changed, Barbie has been compelled to

change as well, always reflecting the dreams of the generation of girls playing with her. Barbie is

a remarkably candid catalogue, which both reflects desire, and has at the same time created them.

Mattel's iconic Barbie doll and her many faces serve as a snapshot of the roles of women, and the

fantasies of girls, in mid-20th century America.

Barbie was the first “Teen-age Fashion Model”. She was created by Ruth Handler, a woman

who was far from perfect. In 1970, she underwent a radical mastectomy, and in 1978 she faced

charges due to her involvement in mail fraud, conspiracy and making false statements to the se-

curity and exchange commission (Lord, 22). Although she had her stumbles, Ruth had a mission.

The inspiration for Barbara Millicent Roberts, more commonly known as Barbie, was derived

from two sources, the first being Barbies namesake. Barbara Handler, Ruth Handler’s daughter,

like any other young girl, adored playing with her dolls. One day while Barbara was at play, Ruth

noticed that while Barbara was playing with her infant shaped dolls, she was assigning them

adult roles.

Ruth described this as, “Through their play, Barbara and her

friends were imagining their lives as adults. They were using the

dolls to reflect the adult world around them. They would sit and

carry on conversations, making the dolls real people. I used to

watch over and over and think: If only we could take this play pat-

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tern and three-dimensionize it, we would have something very

special.”(Lord, 45)

Handler then described her vision of an adult bodied doll to her husband, Elliot, who be-

lieved that it would never sell and encouraged her not to pursue such a doll. Ruth, when discuss-

ing this reaction said, “Frankly, I believe they were all horrified by the thought of making a doll

with breasts”(Jean). But, Ruth never gave up, and in 1956, while shopping in Switzerland on a

family vacation, she found the Bild Lilli doll, a doll who created the skeleton that the iconic Bar-

bie’s skin now rests upon. Surprisingly, the Bild Lilli doll, was not for children. Her origins

sound almost mythic. Her creator, Reinhard Beuthien, was ordered to make a "filler" to conceal a

blank space in the German newspaper Bild-Zeitung in 1952. He originally drew a cute baby, but

his boss didn't like it. So, he kept the face, added a ponytail and a curvy woman's body and called

his creation "Lilli" (Lord, 27).

According to Sara Pendergast, author of Bowling, Beatniks, and

Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th Century America, Lilli was “ a

gold digger, exhibitionist, and a floozy. She had the body of a Var-

gas Girl, the brains of Pia Zadora, and the morals of Xaviera Hol-

lander. She was commonly seen taking money from men, and she

always wore very few clothes.”(345)

Ruth claims she did not know that Lilli was a “pornographic caricature” (Norris,1), but she

did know she adored the concept of the adult-bodied doll. Handler brought the doll back from

vacation and with the help of engineer Jack Ryan, she reworked the doll and created the icon we

lovingly refer to as Barbie.

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Barbie was designed to be beautiful. A time has passed and beauty standards have changed,

she has remained beautiful. Her always fresh faced look is not due to her original design, as Bar-

bie’s best feature, her face, has been studied and worked on for countless hours by designers

seeking the best possible face sculpt for Mattel's golden girl. The original face sculpt of Barbie

vastly differs from Barbie’s current look. The original face of Barbie features high arched brows,

a button nose, small pouted red lips, and demure eyes, always glancing to the side. This face

shape had remained the same for years, the most prevalent aspect being her submissive down

gazing eyes, similar to the averted glance prevalent in female nudes during the Renaissance era

(Osborn). This look directly reflects the time period in which it was spawned. America’s house

wives were becoming suffocated. The jobs they held in WWII were gone and women were

locked in their place within society.Women’s role was defines very narrowly during this time,

sexuality was shameful, and Barbie’s averted eyes reflected that shame. Barbie finally got the

chance to lift her lazy eyes in 1971 with the release of Malibu Barbie, M.G. Lord says in Barbie

Forever, “She was finally allowed to have that body and look straight ahead” (214). Barbies eye

makeover is a direct affect of the sexual revolution. Society began to accept that a woman could

be sexual, and unashamed. Barbie was able to look outward and address the world as a more

self-possessed being.

Besides her eyes, the only other large change in Barbies face sculpt since her creation has

been her smile. The original design of Barbie lacked a smile. Instead, she had somewhat pouty

lips painted scarlet red. These lips reflected the look of the moment, the demure “feminine mys-

tique” look (Redmond). This look, popularized by icons such as Twiggy and Brigitte Bardot, hid

the woman's true emotions, making her a somewhat distant, mysterious, unrelateable figure.

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Then, in 1977 Mattel completely revamped Barbie’s famous face to keep up with the times. Her

once haughty smirk had become a broad, open, smile. This fresh new smile designed by Joyce

Clark, debuted on the face of “Superstar Barbie”, a doll inspired by the disco-beat of the era. She

was now groovy, and cool.

M.G. Lord when discussing Barbies new grin says, “The revamped

Barbie changed the relationship between the doll and the little girl

that owned it. Barbie could still function as an object onto which

the child projected her future self; but because the doll had the

trappings of celebrity, the girls future had to involve being rich and

famous.” (Lord, 102)

Her new smile not only reflected the disco movement, but also the fresh faced celebrities of

the time, including the always grinning Farrah Fawcett. This was a great business move for Mat-

tel and brought it a whole new generation of customers. The new vibrant "sun, sand, and surf"

look created a relaxed, carefree Barbie in times that were decidedly not (Osborn,3).

Although Barbie’s look changed quite often, it did not change as much as her profession. As

M.G. Lord puts it, “ She could reinvent herself with a costume change: sing a solo in the spot-

light one minute, pilot a starship the next” (Lord, 9). However, Ruth Handler originally envi-

sioned Barbie to be a “teenage fashion model”, classy, professional, yet youthful.

While discussing Barbie’s original career choice, author Sara Pen-

dergast said, “The profession choice of “teenage fashion model”

was unique not only because of the emphasis on fashion, but also

for the “age” of the doll. The Barbie doll celebrated high fashion

and offered young girls the opportunity to participate in the emerg-

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ing world of fashion that was being covered in women’s magazi-

nes”(Pendergast, 644)

Barbies days as a fashion model continue to this day, but she has gone through over 100 other

professions as well. She has worked almost every job imaginable, from Presidential candidate, to

McDonalds's cashier. Barbie can do almost anything, as Ruth Handler once said, “She not only

flies commercial and military planes, but she is also a stewardess” (barbiestyle.barbie.com). The

many careers of Barbie introduced a girl to the idea that she could be more than a house wife, but

actually an adult capable of pursuing a career. Her multiple career paths showed that a girl could

be anything, a Canadian Mountie, a Paratrooper, Sea world trainer, brain surgeon, even a sign

language teacher.

Pandergast captures Barbie’s progressive nature in her book say-

ing, “ Barbies careers became rapidly available for the Barbie doll,

faster at first than actual opportunities for women did. When the

first men walked in space in 1965, Mattel introduced Barbie astro-

naut, long before women were able to join the U.S. space pro-

gram.” (Pandergast, 645)

Barbie has also held many positions in the military. Barbies affair with “all things camo

print” began in 1961, with Nurse Barbie, a modestly dressed doll based on of World War II

nurses. She even celebrated the end of the cold war when Summit Barbie was created in the

1980s (Redmond, 3). But, Barbie did not make it to the front-lines of war until 1989 with Dessert

Storm Army Officer Barbie. She soon was enlisted in the Air force, Marines, Navy, and special

forces. This was a large step by Mattel and afraid of controversy, all the dolls had to be approved

by the Pentagon to ensure proper authenticity (Jean).

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Although some may argue that Barbie does not properly portray women in the military, her

presence has been beneficial,and mirrors society's acceptance of women in the military, as A.

Pidd, a woman of the US military, said, “And while her accessories do not include a fighter jet,

she does own a jeep, and her presence in the US Armed Forces validates the acceptance and the

importance of women in the military to millions of young women.” (Redmond,3)

Barbie, as well as having many professions, also has many friends, each reflecting a shift in

society, and its acceptance. One of those friends is “Share a Smile Becky”, a doll introduced to

1997 who is confined in a pink and purple wheelchair, Maribeth Elmes, senior product manager

at Mattel said the choice to make a disabled doll was to make, “Barbie's world more like the eve-

ryday world.'' (Osborn). The creation of “Share a smile Becky” reflects a change towards politi-

cal correctness in society, and the recognition of ableism in products such as toys.

Another friend of Barbies that reflects the changing tides of society is Christie, the first Afri-

can American Barbie doll. Christie was introduced in 1968 as Barbies friend. She had a different

face sculpt, but the same body mold as Barbie.

M.G. Lord described the process of creating Christie as “ In 1968

Mattel determined America was ready for the dream girl herself to

be in color. Because the new doll was likely to be scrutinized, Mat-

tel fashioned her with sensitivity: her hair was short and realisti-

cally textured; her face, if not aggressively non- Caucasian, is at

least different from the blonde Barbie’s; and her dress, while cor-

porate, is livened up with jewelry evocative of an African

sculpture.”(Lord, 108)

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The creation of Christie symbolized the beginning of the acceptance of African American

beauty, and showcases the success of the civil rights movement. Christie also reveals, that black

pride had become a marketable reality. In turn, Christie reinforced the notion of self acceptance

for another generation of girls.

Barbies most diverse group of friends however is the Dolls of the World Collection, which

currently represents over 50 nations. The creation of these dolls began in 1968 with the Italian

doll. This reflected our countries acceptance of foreign beauty, as well as the effects of globalism.

Although Italian Barbie was quite Caucasian looking, and stereotypically dressed, she paved the

way for the many other dolls that follow, and continue to introduce children everywhere to na-

tions outside of ours.

Barbie has survived for more than 50 years. She is now an icon of American pop-culture, a

muse to many famous designers, and she is unquestionably, the most popular doll in the world.

She has never been married, but has had over 50 pets. She is owned by 90% of girls in America.

She has survived, because she is not just a toy. She is a body of popular art that changes as the

society she reflects changes . Barbie reflects the desires, and at the same time creates the desires

of women, no matter the time or place. Her many different faces are snapshots of history, that not

only reveal the inner depths of society, but also the image of women in America, during a spe-

cific time. She has become part of most childhoods, and will continue to be woven into American

society as long as there are little girls to play with her, as they rehearse their futures.

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Works Cited

“The Barbie History”.www.barbiecollector.com. Mattel. 2010.

<http://www.barbiecollector.com/collecting/about/history.aspx>

“Barbie Runway, Fall 2009”. Elle.com. 2009.

Jean, Sarah. “Controversial Barbies”. Barbiefest.com. 2010.

<http://www.barbiefest.com/blog/20090514/7-controversial-barbies>

Kazdin, Alan. "Measuring Self-Esteem". Encyclopedia of Phychology. Washington DC: Oxford

University Press, 2000.

Lord, M.G.. Forever Barbie, The Unauthorized biography of a real doll. New York, NY: William

Morrow and Company Inc, 1994.

Norris, Wendy. “Barbie's "Fat Ankles"? 9 of the Doll's Most Embarrassing Controversies”. RH

Reality Check. October 13, 2009.

Osborn, Kim.“Barbie Doll Generates Discusson on Body Image”.thebrownandwhite.com. 3-31-

09.

<http://media.www.thebrownandwhite.com/media/storage/paper1233/news/2009/03/31/News/>

Pendergast, Sara. Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th Century America.

Volume 3 (1940s-1950s). Farmington Hills, MI: U.X.L, 2002.

Redmond, Moira.“Dumb blonde-or diehard feminist?”. The Guardian. 16 December 2008: D-3

“Im Simply Plastic Without You”. barbiestyle.barbie.com. Mattel.2010.

<http://barbiestyle.barbie.com/history.aspx>

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