The Woman’s Culture of the Barbie Doll
Barbie is the first fashionable children’s toy released by Mattel and can be seen as a tiny snapshot of the historical significance of its time. Barbie holds a mirror to the societal standards of women throughout the decades and provides a figure for children to look up to. When Mattel released Barbie for the first time, it was not supposed to be as successful as it had become. Within the first year of its release, Mattel became the #3 top toy company in the world. When given the opportunity to think of a topic for this paper, I recently watched a YouTube video of a favorite Drag Queen of mine Trixie Mattel expressing the history of Mattel’s iconic Barbie doll. I knew that I had to write about the parallels between Barbie’s release dates to women’s history. The circulatory system of Art & Design all come from and parallel the social economic history of its people and the artist themselves.
The first Barbie to land in stores was released in 1959 and was said to be obscene, overly sexualized, and thought to be tasteless that children would want to play with a doll that had boobs. Barbie hit the shelves in a swimsuit and heels, with no husband, her own house, and a career as a fashion model. During this time, this is a mega leap for women. It is impossible for me not to see that the initial 1959 release of Barbie is only 4 years after the kickstarting event of the Civil Rights Movement, the day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus in 1955. This shadows how the toy industry might view putting out an independent doll character for the future generation to play with. It parallels the brave women of their current society and tries to put out something different that has a lasting effect on generations to come. With the new live-action Barbie film starring Margot Robbie due out later this year in 2023, people are taking another look back at Barbie's evolution throughout history.
During the 1960’s we see more laws going into effect for women through the government. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signs into law the Equal Pay Act prohibiting sex–based wage discrimination between men and women who perform the same job in the same workplace. Just a year later, in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law, and Title VII bans employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, or sex. This can be related back to Barbie because, for a while, Barbie held her same ponytail hairstyle until we see her in the early 1960s with a bubble cut. Her haircut is significant because culturally when a woman shortens her hair, she may be seen as more rebellious; for example, the character Rizzo from Grease. The quality of clothing of the dolls made during this time is very high, including working zippers and authentic fabrics. Twist and Turn Barbie came out in 1966, and for the first time, Barbie had a twistable waist that was cut on an axis; this meant that this doll now has the ability to dance and express movement. At the time, this was so exciting because, at the same time, it was becoming more mainstream, and people were excited about discovering movement, dancing, and the kind of clothing that allowed your body to move freely. Mattel was the first company to sell doll clothing separately from the doll and advertise Barbie on kid’s television commercials. Her facial features started to evolve and round, her eyebrows became softer, and she began to have real rooted eyelashes.
As Barbie’s Body Got More Freedom, So Did Women.
In 1972 the Title IX of the Education Amendment was signed into law by President Richard Nixon, stating: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” In 1973, the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade decision of 7–2 declared that the Constitution protects a woman’s legal right to an abortion; whilst almost half a century later in 2022 that same court ruling is overturned. What fascinated me is Barbie’s way of replicating women’s liberation throughout history. The 1970 release of barbie not only included a swivel waist, but jointed hands as well which allowed for even more expression. The side glance that Barbie has continues with her throughout her release until the 1971 Malibu Barbie, where she is seen for the first time facing forward and not looking to the side. Barbie’s side-eye reflects the passive and submissive personality that society wanted to put on women. For the first time, Barbie looks straight ahead, focused, and ready to take on the world. In 1971, women started wearing minimal makeup with long, straight hair. Out of the releases thus far, Malibu Barbie had become the most–sold Barbie doll release in history. Only six years later in 77’ did Mattel release Superstar Barbie, dressed in a long gown with a boa as well as a new head shape as well as the start to giving Barbie her iconic bent arms. Superstar Barbie’s jump to glam from the more minimal style of Malibu Barbie stems from the Liberation Movements in the late 70’s and people striving to go out into the nightlife and look glamorous while doing it.
The first black Barbie doll was released in 1980 and she came with a comb, pick, and jewelry. There had been other black dolls, and some of Barbie’s friends were black, but before this moment there had not been any black Barbies, and for that reason, this release is very significant. Women in the 1980’s were starting to enter the workforce and were beginning to be seen as productive members of society. In 1985, Mattel released Day-to-Night Barbie, seen with a suit, suitcase, calculator, and her outfit even can be turned into a gown. This is enormously significant because this signals the mainstream acceptance of women in the corporate world, that women can be a total girl boss, and that they also can be glamorous, beautiful, and striking all at the same time. During this time of the 1980s-90s, the message to women all over the country was ‘You Can Do It!’ so to have Barbie’s focus be more on what she does, and less on what she looks like is really significant to the times.
Barbie and the Rockers were released in 1986 and was made specifically to beat a new doll brand, Jem, to the shelves. Jem was to release a set of rockstar dolls and was hyped up to be huge. Mattel heard of this and took Barbie and the Rockers from just an idea to on the toy shelves in only 9 months. For scale, the normal production time for dolls at that time was about 16 months. Mattel beat Jem to the shelves with such an impact that when the Jem dolls were released, the public thought Jem copied Barbie. When in reality, Barbie got the rockstar idea from Jem’s planned release. This goes to show how cut-throat corporations are with their releases, and just how fast they take in current fashion trends and put them on the toy shelves. Fashion designers would go to fashion shows in Italy, and then create their own designs to be used on toys in a year when Italian fashion would finally hit America, and the dolls had the proper kind of trendy fashion style everyone was looking for.
Totally Hair Barbie was released in 1992 and, to this day, is the best–selling Barbie doll in Barbie history. This release was such a big deal because Mattel knew how much children valued hair play when using dolls. Giving the doll so much hair raised the need and want children had for their dolls. During the 1990s, there was a rise in doll collectors because the children that grew up with the initial Barbie releases were still purchasing new releases. Because of this rise of the market for Barbie’s fashion, we have also started to see more designers designing for Barbie specifically such as the 1995 Christian Dior Barbie and 1997 Claude Monet Water Lilies Barbie. A limited-edition Barbie I remember having was the 1999 Millennium Princess, just gorgeous.
The more exposure Barbie has gained throughout the years continues to be significant to children and adults all over the world. The tiny snapshot in the form of a glamorous doll holds the historical significance of the changing societal standards women have had and continues to give children all over the world something to look up to. Barbie also represents women’s history throughout her releases and symbolizes all the women who inspired her evolution
