Barbie 👠

The cultural icon

Author

C G
August 06, 2023

I’m sooooo sorry that this post is so late but I have been spending these past few weeks getting out of my reading slump and doing a bunch of research for this post so pls forgive meee 🥺 ily 🫶.

This weeks thoughts:

I think it’s safe to say that the Barbie is THE movie of 2023 (sorry Oppenheimer), and I think it’s even safer to say that the marketing has been through the roof, with around $100 million being spent promoting the movie (and $45 million actually making it). From the meme template of ‘She’s everything and he’s just Ken’, to the world wide pink paint shortage, to the hundreds of brand collabs (with brands like Cha Time, Cotton On, Crocs, you name it, it’s got a Barbie collab), it really feels like Barbie is everywhere you look, so, I thought this would be perfect promo to do a Barbie deep dive!!

Research:

If you’d like to go deeper into Barbie, these are all links to my research 😎

History of Barbie 👒:

Barbie’s timeline is probs one of the most interesting history’s to look at because it’s so tied to culture and the progression of how women were perceived throughout modern history (her clothes particularly showing what was going on for women) with the added layer of context that she was made for young girls.

It’s fascinating to see how she holds up a mirror for societal progress and the culture that we create, with her fashion, careers, hair etc. all being representative of how people projected and created the image of a modern woman.

Origin story:

The original concept of Barbie was thought up by Ruth Handler, the co-owner of Mattel. She saw her daughter (Barbra) playing with dress-up 2D paper dolls (which were women) but realized that the only 3D dolls they had were baby dolls. Naturally, after taking a bit of inspo from the German Lilli doll (which was a kinda gross doll for adults), she created Barbie. With Barbie, Ruth wanted to allow young girls to not role play as a mother, but as a woman; where they would be able to explore their roles in society, by imagining their life as an adult (much more fun than baby dolls).

50’s

On March 9, 1959, Mattel first introduced Barbara Millicent Roberts 🎀 to the toy industry at the New York Toy Fair and from her very first appearance, Barbie was already controversial. Before her, toy dolls were all babies (teaching young girls how to be mothers is a WHOLE nother conversation about the role of women), with no real adult doll. Barbie, on the other hand, wearing a striped swimsuit (scandalous 😮), was portrayed as a young, single, ‘beautiful’ woman with a successful career. For 1959, this was a big step for women, where instead of focusing on their career, women were encouraged to find a husband and be a housewife (although more women were starting to enter the workforce).

Now, this was very unpopular amongst the male executives at the toy fair and most adults found her inappropriate, so did she rise to fame? Well, much like the movie now, she had a marketing team. She was put in a Disney ad slot which was broadcast to millions of children in the US and naturally parents gave in to the Barbie hype. In their minds, Barbie, although scandalous, was a tool to get their girls into fashion and makeup - which for the 1960s was seen as a highly important tool in in finding a husband and subsequently, stability.

60’s

1962 saw Barbie own her first dream house (literally before women could open their own bank accounts). Since Ruth wanted Barbie to represent women’s independence and empowerment, Barbie’s dreamhouse, was a modern sort of Bachelorette pad. It wasn’t a place for a housewife (there was no kitchen) and instead was mainly a place for Barbie to hang out and have fun with her friends.

Now, disclaimer, on the flip side of this, it would be ignorant of me not to point out that there obviously was and still is a lot of conversation around Barbie’s negative impacts on pushing unrealistic beauty and body image standards onto young girls as well as perpetuating gender stereotypes. I think this is really blatantly clear in the 1965 ‘Slumber Party Barbie’ which really grossly came with scales set to 110 Ibs (50 kg) and a how to loose weight book saying ‘don’t eat’, which is a real cultural shock to realize that this was given to young girls in the 60s. As well as this, there is also the general portrayal that yes, even though Barbie was a progressive career woman, she was successful while mainly being a white, thin ideal throughout her entire existence.

For the rest of this deep dive I’m going to stick to her general evolution on a cultural level but keep in mind that there is all this going on in the background. You can read more on her negative impacts here.

70’s

Early 70s: 1971 saw surfer Malibu Barbie. This was the moment when Barbie became less passive (before that her head was sorta bent and submissive) and instead much less serious and more carefree, encapsuling the 70s hippie vibe.

Late 70s: In 1977 Barbie entered a new era with Superstar Barbie, coinciding with the rise of celebrity culture and disco glam of the late 70’s and early 80’s. This doll totally encapsulated the cultural phenomenon of the time as well as being the first real glamorous, celebrity version of herself.

Also just overall, there is an interesting parallel to draw that as new versions of Barbie came out over the years, her body would be able to move more; at the same time as women’s rights and freedoms grew. e.g. with ‘Twist and Shout Barbie’ her hips could turn and legs could walk (mid 60’s) and with ‘Live Action Barbie’ her arms could bend (70’s), hands could bend/twist (70’s).

80’s

Barbie would continue to grow more diverse as the world around her did and 1980 saw the first non-white, blond haired Barbie, with the African American and Latino Barbie’s. Prior to this there had been representation in Barbie’s friends (like the Christie doll) but these were the first diverse ‘Barbie’s’.

In 1985, Barbie iconically broke the plastic ceiling with ‘Day to Night’ CEO Barbie, showing off as a working woman by day who can be transformed into a fun, party woman by night. This was so culturally relevant with women starting to get into corporate careers, whilst also showing girls that women can have both a fun life and a successful career💄.

90’s

In 1992 Mattel released ‘Totally Hair Barbie’ which would be their highest selling Barbie doll to date. Her ankle length hair perfectly fitting into the crazy, big hairstyle era of the 90’s and letting girls have even more fun, experimenting with hair.

Over the years, Barbie continued to curate the best resume out there and 1992 also saw the first ‘Barbie For President’ off the back of the ‘You Can Be Anything’ campaign’, solidifying her career successes and achievements.

2000’s - now:

In recent years Barbie has been more progressive with the release of the Role Models series which focused on creating inspiring female dolls like Frida Kahlo and Bindi Irwin. As well as this, she has grown more and more inclusive with the Barbie Fashionista series featuring numerous diverse Barbie’s with different body types, skin tones and disabilities.

Barbie today:

Coming back to today, I think that when we look back on 2023, Barbie 🎀 will be a really interesting cultural topic of conversation. The way that people have embraced the fun, flamboyant Barbie train (particularly as a fashion trend) really speaks to the vibe people want in the world right now (in the midst of environmental and economical woes). And really goes to show that throughout the highs and lows of her life, Barbie has been, and will continue to be, THE cultural icon.

Side note of the Barbie premiere fits:

So in the wake of all the Barbie hype, I thought I’d do a little compilation of the premiere fits as a bit of inspo for when we all head off to the cinema in this new era of Barbie fashion.

Margot Robbie:

Ryan Gosling:

Billie Eilish:

Dua Lipa:

Simu Liu:

Nicola Coughlan:

Amelia Dimoldenberg:

Ava Max:

Side note (again):

LANA DEL REY’S INSTA IS PUBLIC AGAIN AS OF RN IF U WANNA FOLLOW (just doing my service to those who wanna know).

Hope you have a fantastic week

C

You can be anything.

Barbie

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