Barbie’s 60, worth a billion – but girls’ role model she ain’t
BY ANNIE BROWN THERE are two important dates in the feminist calendar, International Women’s Day and Barbie’s birthday.
The former is an opportunity to strive for gender parity and the latter a reflection on why it is taking so long.
Barbie was introduced to the world 60 years ago today and she bears as much relation to a real woman as an alien from planet Ork.
From childhood, Barbie was the woman little girls aspired to be, with her blonde hair, tiny waist, long legs, pert boobs and doe eyes.
Entrepreneur Ruth Handler unveiled the prototype doll at the New York toy fair on March 9, 1959, with her daughter in mind.
After discovering a German doll figure, the Lilli, she bought the rights and developed their own version – mimicking the blonde bombshell image of film stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth.
The difference is, no human woman would survive if they were shaped like Barbie.
With a waist smaller than her head, there would be no room for her organs and even with pretty hair, women can’t survive without a liver and kidneys.
Her legs are also freakishly long, great for a giraffe, not for a person and they are too thin to contain muscle and bone.
Not that it matters, since her feet are so small she would have to crawl on all fours.
Handler and husband Elliot founded the company Mattel in 1945, and Barbie became a massive player in the toy world.
Celebrity versions included JK Rowling, Audrey Hepburn, Cher, Diana Ross and Beyonce.
The Inspiring Women range, released last year, featured historic figures such as Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo and Hidden Figures NASA mathematican Katherine Johnson.
In 2018, the Barbie brand amounted to £1billion and more than a billion dolls have been sold.