Let’s talk about Barbie dolls

the story of one of most popular toy companies

Toys have always been an integral part in shaping a child’s brain. One could often see parents segregating figurine toys as violent and non-violent ones. Here’s a common one: GI-Joe toys — violent, Superhero toys — non-violent. I think it doesn’t make any sense. Both GI-Joe characters and Spiderman are equal instigators of mayhem in the world around them. The difference between them is one of them is positive and the other one is negative. Wars are considered negative, but Spiderman killing a Peter-Pan looking creature on a hoverboard is positive. Funny, but today’s story is going to talk about positivity in toys.

Off the top of my head, if I were to name a few brands that have stood the test of time in their popularity, I’d say, Lego, Hot Wheels Cars, Play Doh, and, one of the most controversial toys of all time, Barbie.

The Barbie Doll origins

A toy that spawned the iconic Barbie Pink. The one toy that was truly created only for girls. A toy that became a symbol of empowerment (and rebellion).

Barbie was created by one of the founders of Mattel, Ruth Handler, who started the multibillion dollar company along with her husband and his friend. At the start of Mattel, the toy designing was being managed by her husband while she took care of the finances of the company. Very well, in fact.

Ruth always wanted to create a line of toys that was more than just being unisex in its appeal. She wanted something specifically for girls. Up until she conjured the Barbie doll, girls were only accustomed to playing with dolls of little babies, and other stuffed animals. Besides these, there were a few cutout toys that magazines provided for girl children.

But, the problem was this, girls were predominantly raised to look upon their future selves as mothers. That’s all. While Ruth didn’t hate motherhood, she hated the fact that women were moulded to think that’s the end of the line for their life; While men could grow up and be anything that they wanted (Toys made for them had soldiers, fire-fighters, doctors etc.,). No boys-oriented toys had babies.

Ruth was on a holiday with her husband to Europe when she came across a gag-toy called the Bild-Lilli doll that men gifted each other for their bachelor parties. It was of a girl dressed as a stripper. While it was primarily catered to adults, it became popular with children who enjoyed dressing her up in outfits that were available separately. That drove the inspiration to start her Barbie doll line. She finally saw that three dimensional women toy figurines existed.

She brought back a few to the US. Found a company in Japan that could manufacture toys like the Bild-Lilli doll, and thus began the creation of the first and greatest influencer that we had ever seen. The Barbie doll was named after Ruth’s daughter Barbara. However, Barbie has a full name too, Barbara Millicent Roberts.

Design beyond the plastic

When Ruth proposed the design of the Barbie doll to Mattel, they hesitated. The Barbie doll was very controversial since the day it was introduced. The initial design of the Barbie dolls was:

• A tall curvy petite girl who was well developed
• Dresses that could be ripped off and showcased the bare shape of the doll
• Blonde and sexually suggestive looks
• Wild dresses

As Mattel expected, sales were horrible when it was introduced at the Toy Fair in 1959. But, small orders from a few shops catapulted them to a fame they never expected to reach. Stores kept restocking Barbie dolls over and over again. And, who were its main buyers? Mothers. And, only later kids. Over time, Barbie was one of the single most important companies that brought Mattel to the Fortune 500 list.

Let’s break down why this happened:

• The dolls were everything mothers wished for (and only some of them were) — Barbie dolls were dressed with a wide range suggesting different career options. They were doctors, firefighters, office-goers and more. This wanted mothers (and fathers too) to encourage their girls to dream beyond just being a homemaker
• It led to some creative thinking. While only Lego blocks were associated with carefully designed toys that could be put together in all sorts of ways, Barbie dolls encouraged a similar appeal with so many different dresses and models available. Want to wear a skirt with a doctor’s coat? Sure. Dress up your Barbie that way
• With regards to kids, little girls began to see that a future existed beyond just being homemakers. They too wanted the same successful lifestyle like the Barbie doll they just purchased. Barbie dolls were designed to make little girls dream. And, that dream did come true.

Competition and Controversies

It did have a fair share of competition which also bolstered Barbie as a cult icon. Primarily it had three of them, Sindy Dolls from UK, Bratz Dolls from the US, and Lottie Dolls from Ireland.

But, none of them came close to the appeal Barbie had. Primarily just because of how simple and purer Barbie was in its appeal. Bratz dolls, one of Barbie’s main competitors, focused on giving a glamorous spoilt look while Barbie had a fashion sense that was easy for people to understand.

Also, an important factor is heritage. When a mother has played with a Barbie during her younger days, it’s highly likely she’ll get it for her daughter too or recommend it to someone else at a later point in life. And, Barbie’s timeless design helps.

As you’d expect, Barbie was as controversial as it was popular. I don’t wish to delve into the specific incidents, but rather, I’d like to provide you with a small timeline of how the Barbie doll’s design developed over the years. It is the same reason that kept Lego relevant through the years, Barbie adapted quickly to growing trends. it ensured that the brand was always a part of the conversation.

It’s all in the eyes

The first major design update actually had to do with Barbie’s eyes. The initial Barbie dolls had their eyes gazing downwards. This portrayed a sense of inequality and many activists were behind it. In 1971, Barbie’s gaze moved up and stared right into the eye. Now, the doll was like a person making eye-contact with you.

Skin Tones

One of their issues Barbie faced was the lack of inclusivity in the model skin tones. But, the company moved quickly. In the 1980s, they came out with multiple color tones starting with Barbie’s friend Christie who was an African American.

The company is still plagued with this problem to date. But, if you could see the Barbie range, they’ve continuously kept improving the line and have made it more inclusive. Their responsiveness to the market demand and trends is admirable.

Now, for the biggest problem it continues to face,

Body

Barbies were iconic with their model like shapes. Thin. Petite. Disproportional busts and high heels. Barbies have always been criticized for their lack of inclusivity in their body shapes. They made little girls think that Barbie’s shape was the normal one and anything but that was abnormal.

Below, is an excerpt from a research done in the UK regarding this subject:

A group of UK researchers in 2006 found that young girls aged between five-and-a-half and seven-and-a-half years old who were exposed to a story book with Barbie doll images had greater body dissatisfaction and lower body esteem at the end of the study compared to young girls who were shown the same story with an Emme doll (a fashion doll with a more average body shape) or a story with no images.

More worrying, there were no differences between groups of girls aged five-and-a half and eight-and-a-half years of age, with all girls showing heightened body dissatisfaction. Another study ten years later found that exposure to Barbie dolls led to a higher thin-ideal internalization, supporting findings that girls exposed to thin dolls eat less in subsequent tests.

Exposure to unhealthy, unrealistic and unattainable body images is associated with eating disorder risk. Indeed, the increasing prevalence of eating disorder symptoms in non-Western cultures has been linked to exposure to Western ideals of beauty. Barbie’s original proportions gave her a body mass index (BMI) so low that she would be unlikely to menstruate and the probability of this body shape is less than one in 100,000 women.

Source: Fast Company

But, Barbie corrected their course quickly in the last few years. Better late than never.

In 2019, the company upped its line to include more body shapes and disabilities as well. A step in the right direction for sure.

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The design of Barbie has the power to shape children’s minds across generations. While Barbie, thus far, has been taking steps in the right direction, I think they have a long way to go.

What do you think of the Barbie dolls?