Barbara Millicent Roberts (1959- ), better known as Barbie, is a doll that girls in the West love to play with. They like combing her hair and dressing her up. For the past 40 years, nine American girls in ten have had at least one Barbie doll.
Over a billion Barbies have been made, none of them in America. Three Barbies are sold every second.
Barbie has never taken root in the Muslim world where her counterpart is Fulla, a proper Muslim woman.
When Barbie came out, she was new in two ways:
- She was the first doll advertised to girls (not their parents) through television.
- She was a woman, not a baby or a girl like the dolls of the time. Not just that, she had an unmistakable female figure.
Barbie was the brainchild of Ruth Handler, wife of the “el” (Elliot) of Mattel, the American toy company.
She got the idea for Barbie while in Germany. There she saw the Lilli doll. Lilli’s look goes back to a pin-up picture from the Second World War, so she had an incredible female figure. She was a lady of the night. The dolls were given to men as presents, but Handler found that girls liked dressing them up and playing with them.
Handler brought some Lilli dolls back to America and found that American girls liked them too. With some help from Jack Ryan, an aircraft designer who was once married to Zsa Zsa Gabor, Lilli was made into Barbie. It made Mattel’s fortune.
Later in the 1990s Handler said that she wanted Barbie to teach girls that they could be anything they wanted to be when they grew up. Women who grew up with Barbie say she did have that effect on them. But in her early days Barbie was more a party girl than anything.
But some say Barbie is a bad influence:
- Barbie teaches that money and having things is the road to happiness.
- Barbie holds up an idea of beauty that is hard to reach. Some fear that this leads some girls into eating disorders, others to go under the knife to change their looks and yet others to hate their face and even the colour of their skin.
- Barbie, say some Muslims, influences girls to follow the loose morals of the West.
Barbie has white skin, blue eyes, yellow hair, legs that are too long for her body and a large chest. She was impossibly thin till Mattel made her a little wider in 1997.
To get an idea of how old a Barbie is, see where it was made:
- Japan: 1959-1972
- Mexico: 1968-1970, 1989-1990
- Hong Kong: 1970-1987
- Taiwan: 1970-1987
- South Korea: 1973-1978
- Philippines: 1978-1988
- China: 1986-present
- Malaysia: 1986-present
- Indonesia: 1992-present
Barbie dolls are sold in America for nearly 30 times what they cost to make in China.
Any Barbie made in Japan that is in good condition is valuable as a Vintage Barbie.
Barbie’s eyes did not look forward till 1971.
– Abagond, 2007, 2016.
Images: Mostly from 56 Years of Barbie’s Evolution.
See also:
Abagond 
how old is barbie
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She came out 49 years ago in 1959.
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I didn’t know the original Barbies were made in Japan. That explains why the Barbies backed then looked Asian.
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Now this is telling. A US supermarket chain is accused of cutting the price of black Barbies to nearly half that of the white dolls.
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Here’s the link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7419518/Walmart-under-fire-for-selling-black-Barbies-at-half-price-of-white-dolls.html
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This is interesting. I guess they did it for the simple reason: black Barbies weren’t selling as well as the white ones. That’s the rule of the market. Lower the price to try to make sales better. Nothing odd in that.
But that leads us to another question: why do kids like white Barbies more than the black ones?
I can only speak for myself: I hated dolls when I was a kid and I didn’t have many of them. I do, however, think white Barbies look better, not because white is better but because brown plastic used for brown dolls look awful. Just like wooden dolls look better if they are brown and not painted.
Another thing I noticed: with white Barbies, there are many blondes. But not many brunettes. Hair colour is somewhat important to me (in terms of identity- in lack of a better word) so I think I’d always pick a brown doll (as a child) if asked to point the one that looked like me.
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Leigh:
I heard about the half-priced black Barbies in Louisiana but read it the other way round: it is a common practice for stores to cut prices on items that are not selling well so they can clear their shelves. Therefore either that Walmart screwed up and ordered too many black dolls or, more likely, it unwittingly staged a Doll Experiment:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/the-clark-doll-experiment/
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I remember seeing this article in one of the not so fashionable’ papers in the UK, nevertheless still an interesting read…
The Curse of Barbie: How the World’s Most Famous Toy Destroyed the Sordid lives of Her Two Creators
10th March 2009
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1160823/The-curse-Barbie-How-worlds-famous-toy-destroyed-sordid-lives-creators.html#ixzz0hxrdrmkP
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While I do agree Wal-mart lowered the prices of the Barbie to make room for new products, I think the issue here is the underlying message it’s sending out that the value of the black Barbie is considered less than the white Barbie.
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Leigh,
Black Barbie and white Barbie are both items that you can buy, they’re both goods. They have their marketing values. And yes, market says black Barbie is less expensive, its value IS less than the white Barbie. Black Barbie is not selling well and they are using marketing strategies to increase sales. Nothing wrong with that (if you’re ok with capitalism in general).
What IS wrong here is the fact black Barbie is not selling well. It’s the same type of a toy as white Barbie. Why do kids (and parents?) prefer white Barbie?
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@Mira:
When I was growing up, I lived in a place where all the dolls I came across in the toy stores were blond haired and blue eyed. And I had a couple of blond Barbies. I would’ve loved to have a doll look like me and the black Barbie would’ve been the closest to my appearance. But there were no ethnic looking Barbies. None. If I were a litte girl now and I saw the black Barbie at a lower price than a white Barbie, what am I supposed to think?
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Leigh, I wasn’t criticizing your disgust with this problem. I just wanted to point that, as goods that you can buy or sell, dolls have their price. You wrote: “I think the issue here is the underlying message it’s sending out that the value of the black Barbie is considered less than the white Barbie”.
I don’t think there’s an “underlying message”- black Barbie, as a product you can buy, IS worth less than white Barbie. There’s nothing secret about it. It’s not a person, it’s a toy. This toy costs less than another one. And it costs less not because Wall Mart hate black dolls, but because it was not selling good enough.
That’s why I wanted to raise another issue: WHY isn’t the doll selling as good as the white one? Wall Mart wants to make a huge profit. I am sure they would make both dolls cost 100 $ if they could. Obviously, they can’t- they can sell white Barbie for 6 $ and black for 3$. So why do kids like white Barbie more than black Barbie?
When I was growing up, I lived in a place where all the dolls I came across in the toy stores were blond haired and blue eyed. […] I would’ve loved to have a doll look like me and the black Barbie would’ve been the closest to my appearance.
Believe it or not, I know the feeling. True, I never really liked dolls, but all (well, most of) the dolls I saw were blond haired, blue eyed ones. That is not how I look like. I might be white but my hair is dark brown (it was jet black when I was a kid) and my eyes are brown. I knew those dolls look nothing like me. I am sure I would love to see a doll that looks like me. I bet I would pick a black Barbie as the one that looks more like me.
If I were a litte girl now and I saw the black Barbie at a lower price than a white Barbie, what am I supposed to think?
I understand your feelings. I would be mad, that’s for sure.
But still, I don’t think lower price is the main problem here. The main problem is: why do kids prefer white Barbies?
Also, what do you think- would an American white girl like me (dark eyed and dark haired) pick a blond Barbie or an “ethnic” Barbie as the one that looks like her? I wonder.
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Here’s the link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7419518/Walmart-under-fire-for-selling-black-Barbies-at-half-price-of-white-dolls.html
I don’t know… that black Barbie isn’t very attractive. The head is large and wide; disproportionate to the body. The designer said she was trying to make the dolls “…true to the girls in our community,” and I think she succeeded at that. The Barbie is very average-looking. But in keeping with the spirit of Barbie, the dolls are supposed to be somewhat of an ideal. The white Barbie dolls don’t look anything like the average white girl.
Also, why does the black Barbie have such a broad smile? Barbie usually reflects a certain refinement and elegance that I think is lost with this Barbie. Especially since the Barbie is supposed to be a ballerina… how many professional ballerinas do you see with a toothy smile? Maybe I’m being nitpicky, as a light Barbie collector, but especially shelved next to the white Barbie, slight differences like head size and smile can make a difference.
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Also, please I don’t think I support what Wall Mart did. First of all, I am not *gasp* a capitalist. Second of all, I do think what they did was wrong. But even if they raise the price of the black Barbie, even if they make it cost more than the white Barbie, it won’t help solving the main problem.
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Well, if we’re talking about the appearance, Barbie dolls don’t relay look like any human being. A real woman isn’t shaped that way. Still, I understand what you’re saying, Natasha. My biggest complaint about brown plastic dolls is the fact brown colour doesn’t look good on them. Not sure why. Just like wooden dolls don’t look good if they are white or pink.
But then again, I disliked dolls when I was a kid. I played with teddy bears.
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Mira,
Well, if we’re talking about the appearance, Barbie dolls don’t relay look like any human being. A real woman isn’t shaped that way. Still, I understand what you’re saying, Natasha.
Right, that’s what I mean. Barbies aren’t supposed to look like the average person. But that one does.
My biggest complaint about brown plastic dolls is the fact brown colour doesn’t look good on them. Not sure why.
I have to disagree with that. Brown Barbies can look just as good, if not better, than their paler counterparts. Brown Barbies are just gorgeous. What’s wrong with a Barbie like this:
or
this?
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…those links don’t seem to be working. Give me a second to find some others.
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Okay. This
or this?
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To replace the (still not working) first one:
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More:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/3101352800_20726b403d.jpg?v=0
A better black ballerina Barbie:
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@Natasha:
Those Barbies are so pretty. I definitely would choose those Barbies if they existed back then.
@Mira:
I think a lot of children particularly of color are influenced by what they see to a certain degree – the internalized racism that makes them prefer White Barbies. I know, I know Barbie is just that…a toy. It’s just that seeing the black and white Barbies side-by-side, well, I am reminded of the racially tinged effects that still happen in our society. It’s subtle, but it’s there. That’s just my opinion. I hope I’m making sense.
The white friends I had as a child who were brown eyed with dark brown hair, all had the blonde, blue-eyed Barbies. Of course, those were the only Barbies that existed in the toy stores at the time.
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Aww, Lynette, that’s very sweet. 🙂
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To tell you the truth, yes, those Barbies do look good (I’m talking about the images Natasha posted). They don’t have the bad effect of brown dolls I was talking about. Not sure if you understand what I’m talking about. The brown plastic I dislike has some weird and unnatural oily look. I used to think that’s because brown dolls I know of are imitations or cheap dolls, but I’ve seen some original and some expensive dolls with the same sort of colour. Will try to find some examples.
Brown Barbies from the article look like they might be “victims” to this effect, but not the ones in Natasha’s link. I must admit I would never know that ballerina was black. She looks like a dark haired white girl to me.
What I like about these dolls is their hair. Amazing hair. Blonde hair on dolls tend to look fake. Not sure how to explain it.
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I must admit I would never know that ballerina was black. She looks like a dark haired white girl to me.
The one from the article or the one I posted? If it’s the one I posted, that’s because it is. They took the original Barbie and made her darker. 😉
The brown plastic I dislike has some weird and unnatural oily look.
Vinyl? That’s what Barbies are made from. Most of the black Barbies I have are not oily, but some are.
——–
First black Barbie:
Just because I like these ones:
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For leigh, Filipino Barbie:
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Thanks Natasha. 😉 That Philippine Centennial Barbie reminds me of the Spanish that colonized the Philippines at one time. That Barbie, with the brown hair and brown eyes, doesn’t appear Filipino enough.
These Filipino Barbies below are true to form – wearing the ethnic attire of the original inhabitants of the Philippines. But their faces look “white” to me. I like the tan color, though.
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I wanted to say the same thing- those dolls look white to me. dark haired, but white. (Most of the whites are dark haired anyway). I like their clothes, though.
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We’d classify those Barbies as white here in Brazil, too.
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leigh, how do you think the Filipino Barbie should look instead? Darker hair and eyes? To be honest, I rarely notice eye color, so I didn’t know Filipinos have darker eyes.
Yes, I saw those Barbies above, but I thought they looked like original Barbie got a tan and took a trip to the Philippines.
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^ @Natasha W:
It’s a combination of black hair, dark brown eyes, and tanned skin like this Barbie.
However, with the physical features of the middle Barbie.
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Since you have barbies of every race I thought I should share some Asian Indian barbies.
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A good article about Barbie, cultural constructs and global/local dichotomy.
Barbie Dolls in Mexico:
Click to access Mexicobarbie.pdf
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“Barbie dolls are sold in America for nearly 30 times what they cost to make in China.”
^^^THIS!
It goes for all sorts of stuff sold here, from shoes to tech gizmos. Makes you go “WTF” in regards to our “standards” (looks, wealth, etc.).
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I’m living in Turkey (a Muslim country) and nearly every little girl has got a Barbie here. ( Not that it is a good thing)
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Not because of religious reasons, ı just don’t like the doll.
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@ Kiwi:
Well, I remember my mom buying these blonde dolls for me as they were the only ones available at the time. Even though I was a little girl, I knew these dolls didn’t look like me because I noticed Barbie’s eyes were blue, blonde and had white (well, peachy-pink) skin. Of course, I had none of these. It’s interesting but I didn’t take stock of who I would marry until I grew older. It was reiterated time and again by my parents to marry a Filipino man because of shared cultures and understanding. However, they also reiterated they would be just as happy if I married an Asian man. I married a non-Filipino, and my mom gave her blessing before she died.
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