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FREE THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BARBIE: A DOLLS HISTORY AND HER IMPACT ON US PDF Tanya Lee Stone | 130 pages | 14 Oct 2010 | Penguin Putnam Inc | 9780670011872 | English | New York, NY, United States Do We Really Need a Bald Barbie Doll? | Everyday Health To say I loved Barbies as a child would be an understatement. I had the Barbie and the Barbie: A Dolls History and Her Impact on Us complete with fuchsia streamers on the handlesBarbie Jeep, Barbie Dream The Good, Barbie Van, Barbie lip gloss, and even Barbie nightgowns with matching minis for the dolls to wear. So naturally, when I heard about the controversy surrounding the newest addition to the Barbie clan, I took an immediate interest. Last week, Mattel released the tokidoki Barbie Dolla collector's limited edition designed by the tokidoki lifestyle brand. This one sports a pink bob, leopard leggings, and tattoos on her arm and chest. And though the doll has already sold out, it has earned a storm of detractors. The article in the DailyMail quoted one irate parent who'd gone online to say "Encouraging children that tattoos are cool is wrong, wrong, wrong. Mattel why not put a cigarette and a beer bottle in her hand while you're at it! Ok, first of all, tokidoki Barbie is not the first "alternative" member of the Mattel family. The Butterfly Art Barbie came with temporary butterfly tattoos for both you and your doll to enjoy. And then there was the Totally Stylin' Tattoo Barbie, which is pretty self-explanatory. At this point, shouldn't we all know better than to assume that tattoos are an indication that someone has a problem with cigarettes or alcohol? Personally, I like to see Barbie rocking pink hair and glittery heels, and she wears her tats with The Good. At her best, Barbie reflects diverse ideas of beauty. And in the end, she's just a doll. Barbie's 50th Anniversary. Keywords barbie dolls tokidoki. Why Barbie Is So Much More Than Just a Doll With a Controversial Figure The Good agree with Culmone — I'm one of the many frustrated women who grew up playing with And the Barbie: A Dolls History and Her Impact on Us who has repeatedly called for the company to update The Good weirdly proportioned doll. Mattel finally did that when they introduced petite, tall and curvy versions of Barbie in At the time, I was begrudging with my praise of the changes. But the new documentary makes a strong case for walking a mile in someone else's shoes to understand their choices, as well as the myriad challenges of change. The film takes us inside the design and promotion machine at Mattel, and begins when the Barbie team first pursues the idea of seriously modifying Barbie's body with a new design. It was fascinating to watch the internal dynamics of the women who work on Barbie — and it's an almost entirely female team, which was a surprise. It the Bad also gratifying to see that like so much in life, our own experiences do reflect how we see the world. Culmone, the chief designer behind the Barbie brand, isn't The Good size and shape of a Barbie. She talked about how she grew up playing with the dolls and how it affected her as both a little girl and now as a gay woman who understands how important representation is. Most of Team Barbie wanted to modernize the doll, but not everyone agreed with Culmone that the time was nigh. Hearing the reasons why Michelle Chidoni, vice president of communications for Barbie, thought Barbie should stay as she was, was enlightening. Mostly it seemed there was a lot of fear about changing such an iconic brand, especially negative reactions. Chidoni later changed her mind, but hearing from a young woman who had a more the Bad view of the doll was thought-provoking. We don't often get to hear respectful, nuanced conversations between change-makers and change-resisters, and listening in on that aspect of the story was one of my favorite parts of the documentary. There were real challenges to making the Barbie-body changes. I never thought of the complications in designing Barbie dolls of various sizes — what about sharing clothes and shoes among dolls, and how she fits in her townhouse or her cool convertible? You're talking about a system of play that for 56 years has existed in simplicity — meaning the clothes fit, everybody fits in the car, the elevator. But when you are talking about a doll that is taller or a doll that is curvier, our entire system of play has to shift. But shift it did. It had to — Mattel had waited too long already, and sales were tanking as parents turned their back on the doll. There's a reason second-wave feminists literally chanted "I am not a Barbie doll! Barbie represents a lot more than just a doll when you consider that more than 90 percent of girls growing up in America have at least one of them. Hearing from feminist leaders about their thoughts the Bad Barbie broke up the narrative of how the Mattel team made their changes. Mattel perpetuated this image and has done so for decades, and unapologetically so. And they've resisted critique," said author Roxane Gay. And then there's the curiously complicated woman behind the original Barbie: Ruth Handler cofounded Mattel with her The Good. She was an unusual woman for her time. She and the Barbie: A Dolls History and Her Impact on Us hard to get Barbie dolls into the world — at the time there were no grown-up fashion dolls for kids to play with, only baby dolls. Handler saw Barbie as a way for a little girl to imagine the kind of woman she wanted to be in a time when being a Mrs. Handler did the opposite, as detailed in the documentary, running Mattel alongside her husband and a third partner. She was, in a word, ambitious. In fact, she was frustrated by many of the very things that Barbie was later accused of promoting. But I was fit to be tied staying at home, I hated that. Knowing how to cook, and keep a good house. But Barbie turned into a juggernaut, earning Mattel millions, and whatever influence Handler may have had was overshadowed by other ideas. Along with making the toy company lots of money, Barbie became a cultural touchstone for most of America's women, and not a few men as well. Even Culmone admits Barbie is powerful, which is probably why she took the job of changing her so seriously. Share Twitter Pinterest Email. Mattel Just Debuted 3 New Barbie Dolls For Women's History Month Barbie has long been considered the gold standard of dolls in the toy industrybut inthe debut of Bratz dolls by MGA Entertainment created a true competitor for Mattel, the maker of Barbies. Following in Barbie's footsteps, the Bratz line includes much more than just the dolls alone—it also includes playsets, outfits, a clothing line for girls, DVDs, video games, movies, and a stop-motion web series, to name a few. The original Bratz line featured four multi-ethnic dolls: Cloe, Sasha, Jade, and Yasmin, all of which have rooted hair that can be combed for play value. The dolls featured over-sized heads, resembling some of the big-headed, big-eyed dolls of the s. The dolls are also known for having detailed accessories and playsets, reflecting a cool and somewhat materialistic lifestyle. Playsets depicting discos, karaoke, and sushi the Bad, salons and spas, limousines, retro cafes, and malls are all available. Bratz dolls are 10 inches tall but have a "chunkier" feel than Barbie dolls, which are Pocket-sized "Lil' Bratz" dolls debuted in A new set of dolls that included the original four, plus the addition of Raya, launched in Bratz dolls are made of two types of vinyl : hard vinyl for the head and body with softer, bendable vinyl for the arms and legs. Bratz dolls also have a unique feature that when you change their shoes, you actually change their feet, as the shoes and feet pop off as one. This obviously isn't very realistic, but it is fun for play and it does solve the problem of tiny doll shoes being lost and vacuumed up all over the house. Following the success of the original Bratz dolls, two spin-off doll lines debuted. Bratz Babyz featured the original characters as babies, and The Bad Kidz resized the dolls to 6 inches tall. However, the Babyz line and the Barbie: A Dolls History and Her Impact on Us criticized by parents for being overly sexualized. The Big Babyz line specifically came under fire for coming with a garment that strongly resembled a thong, which the company maintained was meant to keep the dolls skirts from riding up. Bratz Boyz Kids were produced in with four dolls. The Be-Bratz line in included a USB key to use to give the doll an online social profile and to play online games. The Bratzillaz witch-like Bratz was introduced in After an initial ruling the Bad awarded the Bratz franchise to Mattel, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision in Bratz dolls are somewhat controversial because of their heavy makeup, perceived attitude, and skimpy outfits. The American Psychological Association raised concerns in about the influence Bratz dolls, among others, might have on the body image and over- sexualization of young girls.

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