Barbie

__The Starting Production__
Barbie was first invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler. Ruth and her husband had two kids named Barbie and Ken (not made until 1961). Besides thier kids they were inspired by a German Lilli doll, one of the first dolls to be invented that had a more voluptuous body, made in 1955. It was a risk to sell a doll so abnormal of the time but within the first ten years they sold $500 million dollars worth of Barbie dolls. The first to come out was a Barbie with blonde hair, dark eye make-up, red lips and a black and white striped swimsuit. When first presented to the Mattel Toy Factory in 1959 when Barbie was in a New York Toy Fair. The first original Barbie doll was sold for $ 3.00. **__ Barbie’s Back-story __**

Barbie even had her own back story, her real name was Barbie Millicent Roberts and she was born and raised in Willows, Wisconsin; she even went o Willows High School. Her favorite color was pink and this was also her signature color. She had a boyfriend, Ken(inspried by their son), that came out in 1961. Besides Barbie just being a fashion icon after she came out she was also was a role model. Barbie has worked 108 different jobs including McDonalds in the last 50 years and was outfitted by about 70 different couturiers like, Lou Boutin. Barbie’s were even made to look like many famous people we still know today such as Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy and modern stars like Hannah Montana, not mention the many Barbie’s were made from Disney princesses, and even trend setters like Twiggy, one of the very first super models. **__ One Big Happy Family __**

Barbie was not alone very long before they started coming out with practically a whole town of Barbie’s. The premiere of ken was in 1961 just two years after Barbie’s big debut and soon after came her five sisters, two cousins and one brother who appear twice throughout Barbie’s career so far. Skipper was Barbie’s first sister, made in 1964; she was Barbie's younger pre-teen sister. Tutti and Todd came next they were twin toddlers made in 1965 lasting until 1971. Next was Francie (1966-1977), Barbie’s cousin, she was only a little bit younger than Barbie but wasn’t a curvy as her older cousin; she also was first Barbie to have rooted/ fake eyelashes. Then came Jazzie, also Barbie’s cousin, she came out in 1988-1992, also to come with her were many other teen Barbie’s. Next was Stacey which most people know pretty well, made in 1990, she was Barbie’s sister; in fact Stacey was the older version of Kelly from a wedding series. And Todd reappeared later in an older version; followed by Kelly a toddler aged baby sister to Stacey, Skipper and Barbie. Next Krissy the little teeny tiny baby sister that was invented in 1999; lastly there is Chelsea Barbie’s younger sister, stuck somewhere between Skipper and Stacey. And that’s the end of her family tree. And she lived in a dream house, starting out small in 1962 and consisting only of a cardboard moving all the way up to present day dream house with elevators and working lights. She even had family pets, besides at one point being a veterinarian Barbie had her first a horse named Dancer who was invented and the color of chocolate.

**__ Trend Setter __** Barbie didn't stop as just keeping up with the celebrities but also kept up with fashion. From the start Barbie had cute ponytail and soft make up to go with the trends of the sixties; when women were a little more conservative. Also in the sixties she even starred a new hair color known a titian or as most people know it red hair. She even got sporty towards the end of the sixties when the twist and turn Barbie was introduced wearing the same bikini as Marilyn Tidalls, a sports illustrated model. As the 70's rolled in so did the feminist movement, fighting for equal rights and rebelling against "the man" was the new trend and Barbie did just that. She now featured a gleaming confident smile, flower power clothing, and her blue eye staring straight forward. onto the 80's when the one of very first black and Hispanic Barbie’s were represented, they are known as “black Barbie” and “Hispanic Barbie”, but this doesn’t include Barbie’s friend Christie who was also African American. Along with the increasing diversity of Barbie’s they also followed in the footstep of the eighties with Barbie’s that wore shoulder pads, neon colors, and even the big hair. Then 90’s brought with it the most selling Barbie of all the “Totally hair Barbie”, she had hair 10 ½ inches long, just as long as her body with feathered bangs. She also featured a mini dress something very popular during the time. Finally we are coming into the 2000’s where we see things like an Olympic Barbie, or Princess Barbie. In fact Barbie was so popular that she had movies involving her, one being, Life-Size where a Malibu Stacy actually comes to life as Tyra Banks. There were also movies that actually featured Barbie herself like Barbie Fairytopia or Barbie in a Mermaid Tail. media type="youtube" key="kxFMoUsizGw" height="315" width="332"media type="youtube" key="jlsk2xACwqc" height="317" width="361"

**__ Barbie and You __** A familiar face from your early years, a household name to some and a doll loved all over the United States; this popular doll is Barbie. Barbie is a fashion icon, a hard worker, and what some may call a bad influence. Throughout time Barbie has always been a very popular toy for girls in the US and in some cases boys as well. Since 1959 and having been a part of American households for over 50 years, invented by Ruth handler based off of a German Lilli doll, Barbie took the world by storm.

Barbie has always been into fashion and always a big part of it all the way down to her finger nail polish. As time went on she became more complex even getting a bellybutton eventually and fake sewn on eyelashes. There was even a point where she got the ability to have joints, creating more mobility. But from totally hair Barbie and rockin' rappin' Barbie all the way to Hannah Montana's Barbie, she’s always been a trend setter. Many girls put Barbie up their along with their role models so she has to always look her best and whether your young or old you can always find a Barbie wearing the latest and most hot fashions of your time. **__The Good Girl__** Barbie was first introduced with the ultimate hour glass figure and showy clothing, something that was expected to not be taken well but roughly 350,000 dolls were sold its first year. Barbie has always been a trend setter since the dawn of her time, not only dressing in the latest fashions and crazes but even having celebrity Barbie’s. But even with Barbie being such a big icon she also had negative effects on some parents. In fact in West Virginia lawmaker Jeff Eldridge of Lincoln County, WV. Eldridge says, “I hate the image we give our kids that if you're beautiful, you're beautiful and don't have to be smart." Barbie has many effects such as these on many people, hating her or loving her or just thinking she’s nothing more than a toy. This blonde beauty can be seen in many different perspectives. One side of her shows her having many jobs and being successful. This is shown through Barbie in many ways, such as turning into celebrities into Babies. Most celebrities lucky enough to be turned into this iconic doll and most of these fortunate people are smart and talented, in fact multi talented. Not to mention the fact that Barbie has had over 100 different jobs, my personal favorite veterinarian. Barbie is more than just a triple threat but something more, she’s pretty and always up on the latest fashion but ever so mysteriously balances family friends and many different careers. There is also the other side which has the fact of Barbie not being able to even stand if she were to come to life she would be six feet tall have a 39" bust, 18" inch waist and 33" hips. This was proven by a Gallia Slayen a high school student as seen in the picture to the right. Ms. Slayen herself struggled with an eating disorder and says that Barbie was her icon. So even as amazing as Barbie is for a role model her body should be a bit more realistic for children who begin to idolize her like Slayen did. As children we have toys all made with their own ideal look and  this can have an effect on our psyche. I myself have thought about the fact that Barbie has what many people say is a perfect body or a 36-24-36 appearance. Even doctors say that toys such as Barbie or G.I. Joe have an effect on us as children but it also depends on your environment and how you play with them.  Overall for me I believe Barbie although sometimes having a bad effect is overall a good toy for kids. I always loved Barbie, in fact I had a whole suitcase full and she always seemed to be an inspiration to me. Luckily for me I was taught that Barbie is not what I should consider perfect and her body is only plastic hard and shiny and just make pretend. Even though I can't say the same for some girls and I agree her body image can be degrading to women I don’t think she’s all bad. Barbie is going to affect each person differently, some harsher than others but overall she seems to be exactly what I said' a trend setter, a hard worker and sometimes bad influence. Barbie should be shown to children as an icon but for her brains and her lifestyle, not her looks.
 * __ Trend Setter __**
 * __ How America Sees Barbie __**
 * __ She’s a Bad Girl? __**
 * __ My opinion __**

__Works Cited__

 * "1960s Barbie Doll House." //Dolls House//. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2011. .
 * "Barbie History." //Deni's Vintage Barbie Collection//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2011. .
 * "Barbie Turns 50 - History, Fun Facts & Photos." //chiff.com - Your Guide to the Best Sites on the Web//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2011. .
 * Lee, Joseph. "Barbie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2011. .
 * "List of Barbie's friends and family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2011. .
 * NBC News. "Ditch the doll? Lawmaker out to outlaw Barbie." //NBC// [New York City] 4 Mar. 2009, sec. Fashion and Beauty: 1. //NBC Today//. Web. 26 May 2011.
 * WatchMojo. " YouTube - â€ª1992 Totally Hair Barbie Doll Commercialâ€¬â€ ." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// . youtube, n.d. Web. 19 May 2011. .