Ruth Handler came across the doll while she was in Europe in 1956. (http://www.dollreference.com/) Ruth, her husband Elliot and friend Matt created the Mattel [Matt+El(iiot)] Company in 1945. Ruth brought the doll back to the United States and Mattel bought the rights to Lilli. Barbie and Ken are named after Ruth and Elliot's children. (http://www.encyclopedia.jrank.org/) Not surprisingly, Lilli's role in the development of Barbie is not mentioned on the Mattel website. Rather,the website claims that Barbie Handler's fascination with paper dolls inspired the creation of a three dimensional doll. (http://www.mattel.com/) 
I have a bit of a fascination with the history of the Barbie doll. But I feel ambivalence about them, too. Barbie products are marketed to girls as young as three years old. Barbie dolls have been around since before I was born yet I still am a little skeeved by her very sexualized figure with the large breasts, curvy hips, perma-heel feet and small waist. It is my theory that Mattel shares this ambivalence and hence, feels the need to sanitize Barbie's history.
I visited Barbie Girls as well as the other websites listed for a couple hours on July 3rd at about 11:20pm. I must admit that I was a little sad that I had sold the three books I used to have on Barbie culture at Half Price Books a couple years ago. But I'm still happy that I did a major book and possessions purge in 2008 so it is ok. I really enjoyed researching the origins of Barbie and her connections to Bild Lilly because I'm intrigued that Barbie's history is so salacious. I played three Barbie Girl games--Tricky Triplets, Dazzling Designs and Jammin' Hampsters. I had fun playing Tricky Triplets and Jammin' Hampsters because flash games are *awesome*. Dazzling Designs is an interesting game because it allows players to design clothing and accessories, play the role of a buyer for their own stores, sell the items and use the profits to continue to whole process. Basic entreprenurial skills are good for girls to learn. I got a message on my phone and was excited because I thought one of my "friends" was trying to get in touch with me. Alas, it was just a reminder that the Scavenger Hunt was now available. I tried to engage in B Chat to see if I could interact with someone else, but I was not able to press either the B Chat or Super B Chat buttons. So I decided to talk with my mom since she had control over my settings. I have to admit that it was pretty hilarious to have this conversation with her since I have been an adult for a long time. :0) The website would not accept her email or password so I'll work with what I have.
Barbie Girls has a set of controls to prevent pervs from trying to pick up little girls. As mentioned previously, parents are the ones who set up what their daughters can or can't experience on the website. Of course, a child could circumvent this process by providing another email, but this would be a violation of the terms and services. I perused the Parents' Place to find more about how Barbie Girls works to make the website a safe place and found this posted:
The BarbieGirls.com experience is intended to be anonymous. Girls are not allowed to share or exchange personal information with any third parties online.
Chatting is regulated. There are three different ways to chat:
B Chat™ is our standard, default chat feature. Anyone can engage in a B Chat™, which may occur in a girl’s room, stores at the mall, and other public hangouts. B Chat™ is the most common type of chat at BarbieGirls.com – and the most restricted. Girls can communicate only by selecting special greetings, questions, and phrases we’ve created and listed by category. They cannot create their own messages using B Chat™.Secret B Chat™ is a private chat that occurs only in a girl’s room and is available only to “best friends” (real-life friends who own a Barbie Girl™ device and have physically connected it to each other’s computer). With Secret B Chat™, best friends can chat using a dictionary of words we’ve approved and compiled in our database. This sophisticated word-filtering system is designed to block all other words and prevent inappropriate combinations of otherwise acceptable words. Only girls with parental permission can participate in Secret B Chat™.
Super B Chat™ is similar to Secret B Chat™ in that users can type their own messages, but only using words that we’ve approved and compiled in our database. Girls do not need a Barbie Girl™ device to participate in Super B Chat™. Our word-filtering system is designed to block all other words and inappropriate combinations of otherwise acceptable words, prevent the exchange of personal information, and to help keep chat safe, friendly, and fun. Like Secret B Chat™, only girls with parental permission can participate in Super B Chat™.
There will be no talking about or viewing of weiners on this website!!! Rather, this is a place for homosocial activities among other"girls" (gender bending could happen since there is no way to prove participants are girls) like shopping and designing the latest fashions. I did not have a problem with keeping my clothes on like some of the Second Life participants have. And no one has ever asked me back to his room for a little Bobbo time.
Yet the avatars on Barbie Girls do not look like the little girls they are supposed to represent. They are built like 18 year old women, not seven year old little girls. There are no options for prepubertal avatars. Here is my question for the class:
One type of reality show that is currently popular is to show beauty pagents with little girls participating. They are "doodied-up" to look like they are full grown women with heavy makeup, really big hair and sexy clothes. The driving force behind these pagents is really the parents. And parents are the ones who make the decision to purchase Barbie dolls who look like the adult version of these pagent contestants for their children. Why do you think parents make the decision to expose their children to these activities and products? What impact do you think this trend has on the little girls who consume these images?
Ah, I see! I wondered how you knew so much about the origin of Barbie .. . Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAs much as I’d like to say Barbie has no impact, and it’s merely a toy that kids play with, would be somewhat of a lie. I think many parents don’t realize the possible impact barbies have on both boys and girls, and that also is a problem. Many parents do not strive in providing for their kids a balance between “boy and girl” toys. It’s rough letting your little boy play with a Barbie, or your little girl playing with G.I. Joe’s and monster trucks—I get that. I think parents grew up with Barbie, every little girl loves Barbie, so why not expose your children to them? Most parents want to give their children whatever they can, so why would Barbie be any different. But the message Barbie is sending for both boys and girls, in my opinion, can be potentially harmful. It’s creating an unrealistic image for girls growing up to emulate, and boys growing up to expect to get to date! Mainly Barbie is helping to support this warped body image we have of women, and what’s considered beautiful. Barbie is an unreachable goal when it comes to looks and body type, for girls to achieve, and for boys to expect.
ReplyDeleteSo much emphasis is put on physical beauty, and I think having Barbies as examples make both boys and girls miss that being beautiful on the inside is most important (cliché, but true). When people are consumed with looking good on the outside, they ignore on expanding who they are as people.