Barbie
Barbie, the 11-1/2 inch, full-figured plastic doll from Mattel, Inc., is among the most popular toys ever invented; by 1998 Mattel estimated that the average American girl between the ages of 3 and 11 owned ten Barbie dolls. Precisely because it is so popular, the Barbie doll has become more than just a toy: it has become a central figure in American debates about women's relationship to fashion, their independence in the workplace, their dependence on men, and their body image. Satirized by musicians and comedians, criticized by feminist scholars, and embraced by young children throughout the world, the Barbie doll exists both as a physical toy and an image of femininity. The physical attributes of the doll—its shape and its beauty—along with the myriad costumes and props available to it have been tied to some of the most fundamental questions about what makes a woman successful and what are the appropriate roles for women in American society.
The Barbie doll's creator, Ruth Handler, was inspired when she noticed her daughter creating imaginative teenage or adult lives for her paper dolls. Handler investigated whether there was an opportunity to produce a doll in the likeness of an adult for the toy market.
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