Mattel has been one of the most well-known companies in the world. They’re known for their toys and their ways of getting through kids’ imagination and making children happy with their creations. However, there is a specific toy that stands out more to people, more specifically young girls. The doll “Barbie” has been looked at as an example to kids. It teaches young girls that they can be capable of being whatever they want. As the doll progressed, Mattel came out with different types of Barbies and different body types, races, etc. This doll has made such a big impact on every young girl’s life almost everyone owned a Barbie and they were probably emotionally attached to it, a doll that they were inseparable with. Barbie was created by Ruth Handler who is also the co-founder of Mattel with her husband Elliot Handler.
Barbie is one of a kind, no other doll would make a young girl want to run to the toy section and look for the one you have been waiting to get I would even say that as a young girl. I wanted to be like her. Later on, Ken became the most popular boy doll that would come next to Barbie as her boyfriend. That’s all that we know of him, being Barbie’s accessory. It took a while for him to change his appearance. Ken only came as a blonde or a brunette wearing the same clothes. They tried to make him trendy and important, but no one would even buy him if Barbie wasn’t there. This makes me want to go into a deeper story, a story where I want to see a kid’s perception.
How would kids view a perfect blonde with a perfect body whose invention is to be perfect? A guy who is only good enough when she’s there and has no sense of who he is. Kids wouldn’t think this deeply about this right now but as teens, we might even try to think deeply about this type of topic. We were once kids who didn’t care about our looks or how our bodies looked like but now in our teen years, we have been developing new insecurities and comparing ourselves to the smallest things. Barbie is just a doll but somehow she was made into a stereotype that people expect from girls physically. It doesn’t matter what we all do we will still be asking ourselves what are we made for and what our purpose is.
Just like Barbie and Ken, we will soon find ourselves and that purpose.
