How Did Barbie Change Over Time

The decision that Sandi makes to diminish her identity to a Spanish American Barbie doll in order to gain power leads to the conflict that she experiences as an adult. Although Sandi’s appearance is privileged in American culture, “…fine looks, blue eyes, peaches and ice cream skin, everything going for her!” she wishes she could be darker skinned like her sisters, more like a Spanish Barbie doll (Alvarez 52). Her mother calls her a “spirit of contradiction,” and these tensions surrounding her character seem to defy interpretation (Alvarez 52). In Ann Ducille’s essay “Dyes and Dolls: Multicultural Barbie and the Merchandising of Difference,” she argues that Barbie dolls are inherently

More specifically she represents the embodiment of the mainstream beauty standard (Klein). She became a very significant role in gender socialization among young girls and woman. In the first Barbie commercial ever, if you carefully scrutinize the lyrics, it says “…someday I’m going to be exactly like you, until then I know just what I’ll do, Barbie beautiful Barbie I’ll make believe I am you” these lyrics informs us that Barbie represents a dream to every little girl, how their future should look like. Barbie was able to remain popular in the conservative times of the 50’s by captivating the attention of little girls, they all aspired to look just like her. Barbie was able to uphold some of the messages that dominated that era by represents the gender roles that belong to woman, in the first Barbie commercial, you can see Barbie wearing a wedding dress, symbolizing that every girl/woman desires to become a

She begs her parents for these dolls, gets them, washes them, and covers up their flaws so they seem as if they came from an actual toy store. The little girl wants to fit in! “We have to make do with your mean-eyed Barbie and my bubblehead Barbie and our one outfit apiece not including the sock dress”, the little girl sees her doll as a measure of wealth. The better and newer the Barbie, the more well-off your family is. The Barbie dolls are causing the little girl to feel insecure so that she needs to make her Barbie’s appear as if they were new. This insecurity may develop over time to a low self-esteem. Society makes it seem that women have to be beautiful, skinny housewives that are dependent on men. Barbie is contributing to these ideals. “Because we don’t have money for a stupid-looking boy doll when we’d both rather ask for a new Barbie outfit next Christmas.” The little girl feels pressured by not having a Ken doll, but at the same time all of the little girls would rather ask for a new outfit with accessories than a new Ken

At first, the Barbie dolls in better conditions with fancy clothes enacts the way society thinks that women are materialistic and egocentric. This relates to the moment the girls call Ken a ‘‘stupid-looking doll,’’ (Cisneros) they prioritize clothes and they would rather have new clothes for

In the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, the tone of the poem starts off with a child-like feel to it. The main character in the poem is a girlchild who “was born as usual” (line 1) but never gets the chance to feel contend or safe in who she is for her character but is judged by others for her looks; when all she wants is to be accepted for who she is as a person. The girlchild in this poem embodies all girls in society. It shows a little insight that each little girl was made to feel unaccepted because of their inadequacies at one point or another. Particularly in women, society has continuously had some type of control over each individual’s lives. In our American culture, the public encourages women on how to dress, act, think and be in the chance to stay accepted. From a young age, little girls are projected to convert into seamless feminine trophies, learning how to cook, clean, and iron for their prospective spouses.” Barbie Doll” hones in on the social characters in contrast to a doll. The author keenly shows a glimpse of foreshadowing and theme even before the poem begins with the title “Barbie Doll” which is the most iconic and idolized toy

In such a way that, Barbie has displayed multiple career paths, offered in various ethnicities but always displayed in the same way and with the use of Logos and Ethos. Although the whole idea behind the Barbie doll was to encourage young girls to be able to dress Barbie how they wanted to with the various wardrobes, it was not until quite recently that Barbie was able to hold more “leadership like” rolls in society. With advertisement of the Barbie doll, gender equity closely intertwined with the portrayal of the doll. “Consistent with other commercial advertising formats, males were found in the leadership and authority roles, while females were generally portrayed in more passive roles. When women were the only individuals in the advertisement, the ad copy usually reflected a biased message toward the abilities and function of the women in their roles as professionals.” (Kramer and Nelson 1997). Using the idea that Barbie depicts a woman who can be whoever she wants to be gives a sense of ethos present in the advertisement. This will then influence the audience (young girls) that they too can be whoever they want to be. By giving the opportunity for emotional attachment and representation of the little girl holding the doll looking up to Barbie as someone much like themselves, it gives a sense of hope and inspiration for the young girl. With the use of pathos, advertisement of Barbie makes it appear as though she is very approachable because of her looks and the way she seems to “fit the standards of society.” The freedom of being able to change Barbie’s clothes into her various wardrobes sold gives the young children playing with her the sense of individuality. Although Barbie has brought a lot of controversy to the table within the years it has been on the shelf, her portrayal has not changed because after all she is just a doll,

Barbie is a doll that was introduced in 1959, she took the world by storm with her fashion and changing careers. She greatly influenced pop culture and the thoughts and beliefs of people. Barbie has been involved in many controversies over the years due to her body image and the high body expectations that she sets for young girls. She has had a significant impact on social values by conveying characteristics of female independence. Barbie has had positive and negative influences on fashion, interests and beliefs of a certain year, which continually changed throughout the decades.

Sandra Cisneros is a writer who spoke through her poetry and short stories. Cisneros faced adversity because she was female writer who was not afraid to write how she felt. As Rivera explains, “The predominant image of docile, submissive, nurturing, and effacing women who relegate their own needs and personal desires to tend to needs of others, particularly the men and children in their families, gives way to literary representations of assertive, self-supporting, tenacious, and strong- willed women who assume control of their lives and circumstances.” Cisneros reminded people throughout her writing the women face challenges, but can overcome obstacles because they are strong and determined. In the stories “Barbie-Q” and “His story” Cisneros shows the true aspect of female characters and how they overcome adversity and challenges. These stories support Rivera’s statement about Cisneros writing.

You’re five years old when you receive your first Barbie doll. Your innocent mind looks at the plastic figure as just a symbol of inspiration or a relatable toy used on the playground

In the article “Artificially Yours” by James Vlahos, Mattel has a new Barbie in the market. Hello Barbie is a doll in which has been inserted artificial intelligence (A.I). With the help of ToyTalk, a company based in San Francisco, Mattel was able to come up with a Barbie that would be able to talk to millions of little girls. Hello Barbie has gone through a lot of modifications since her first appearance to the public. Modifications done to Mattel’s new Barbie was that her thighs were slightly thickened to fit a rechargeable battery and a mini USB charging port was installed in her back. However, not only her body was modified, but her accessories as well. Barbie’s new necklace would include a microphone that would be activated when a user

The narrator is joined with her friend who also has a Barbie doll that is slightly different. During the short story the narrator explains how she and her friend make the best of what they have and what they don’t for example when she explains how they invented a dress from a sock by just cutting holes in it. (339) The narrator farther on in the story visits Maxwell Street where they end up getting a good deal on more Barbie dolls due to the fact that they came from a burned down factory and smelled of smoke. (340) What really caught my attention was not that fact that they could get such a great deal on multiple dolls, but rather the attitude of the narrator after receiving the dolls. “If the prettiest doll, Barbie’s MOD’ern cousin Francie with real eyelashes, eyelash brush included, has a left foot that’s melted a little so? If you dress her in her new “Prom Pinks“ outfit, satin splendor with matching coat, gold belt, clutch, and hair bow included, so long as you don’t lift the dress, right? – who’s to know.” This really shows the reader the impact that society had on the narrator on what matter most to them and view on

In Marge Piercy’s Barbie Doll, the author tries to bring awareness to an issue because of the overwhelming social pressures and insecurities, one girl has that causes her to commit suicide. The classic Barbie doll came out in 1959 and this poem was published in 1971 giving only 12 years for the Barbie doll to be out on the market and have an impact on little girls. In Piercy’s poem, as the girlchild is growing up, she is given all the toys girls today get, toy dolls, GE stoves, irons, and lipsticks (Piercy). All the things she will need to be “successful” as a woman. The girl is smart, intelligent and beautiful but one day, when the girl is a teenager, “a classmate said: you have a great big nose and fat legs”

The poem, “Warren Pryor” by Alden Nowlan, introduces a boy, free’d from the hard-labour on a farm, with the sacrifices made by his parents, however, it evokes his sense of feeling trapped. In the poem, “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, a girl modifies her appearance, because of this she dies. Seen as ‘successful’, isn’t the same as being successful. Both of these poems evoke change made for someone else's advantage, suggest an important message to their audience, and the characters were viewed as successful by others, not themselves.

A girl walks into the toy store and pulls into the doll section. She stares at the imitation doll and the Barbie doll standing next to it. She contemplates between picking the black hair doll and the perfect blonde doll. In a quick second, she grabbed the doll. The Barbie doll. Society is the same thing. In the story, Veronica always wanted the stereotypical barbie doll with blue eyes instead of the imitation doll that may look like her, even if to her the blonde hair doll may not look like her but is beautiful. Throughout the story, she learned that the two dolls may not look alike, but are the same to her in the end. The Story “Barbie” by Gary Soto reflects the theme of what’s on the inside counts and the symbolism for the two dolls, and

It was a warm spring morning in May when my mother and father headed to the hospital to give birth to a little girl. On May 18th, 1998 at 7:34 a.m. I, Allison Michelle Keitel, was born. A lot has changed in these past 18 years, but growing up in a time period between “the good old day” and technology was one of the best generations to live during. Getting to roll around in mud with my siblings and playing outside everyday was one of my favorite memories, however, my generation is also the first generation to grow up with technology. We were born in an era of change. All of the changes I have encountered in my 18 years of living have shaped me into the woman I am today. Since 1998, the perception of women has changed the most. Women have always had this pressure to have the “perfect” look, until our generation has been changing the way women feel forever.