The power of Barbie

"Mummy! Mummy! Buy me Barbie!" - little girls scream all over the world. What is the secret of this blond beauty who this year celebrates her 50th anniversary? Why has she become so successful? Shops are full with beautiful toys; however Barbie still enjoys considerable popularity - why is it so?

One day, Ruth Handler took a closer look at her playing with paper dolls daughter, Barbara. She noticed that the little girl liked to ascribe adult roles to her dolls (at that time dolls resembled infants). 'That's it!' - thought Ruth. During her visit to Germany she encountered a doll called "Bild Lilli" which was an inspiration for Ruth. She got the idea how future Barbie should look like. A fashion doll was manufactured on March 9th, 1959. Ruth Handler named the doll "Barbie", after her daughter Barbara. First Barbie dolls were either blondes or brunettes dressed in black and white zebra striped costumes. Over the years she has become a cultural icon. Barbara Millicent Roberts (Barbie's full name) takes on a wide variety of roles in life with the aim of showing little girls that they can want some more from life than just being a good housewife. Thus, we have Miss Astronaut Barbie, Nascar Barbie, Doctor Barbie and a lot more. It has to be mentioned that our beauty has had over 40 different pets, a wide range of vehicles and ... a pilot's licence! You think that her life is perfect? Actually, it is not. She pays a high price for her being successful. The main objection is to her weight. Barbie's opponents say that this beauty is too skinny. Her "perfect body" is just unrealistic (chest: 36 inches, waist: 18 inches, hips: 33 inches). The girls' favourite can contribute to their complexes and fake images of themselves at later age. The girls who would like to be like their idol from childhood would contend with anorexia, because "Barbie's shape" is the goal which cannot be achieved. She is also the butt of jokes. The song "Barbie Girl", which was released by Aqua in 1997, was a parody of Barbie and the style of her living. Thanks to this song, slang was enriched with other expression: "Barbie" which means a stupid, shallow girl thinking only about shopping and her appearance. Despite all the controversies, Barbie is still doing great. Apart from little girls who insist on their parents buying them another Barbie with new accessories, there are collectors (mostly women) who purchase 20 dolls on average yearly.

As you can see this "granny" is the queen of the toys and everything points that she will maintain her strong position on the market, because despite her age Barbie is always in the know and that's the reason why she is so loved.

Author: Martyna Somerlik