Bibliographical citation: Stone, T.L. (2010). The Good, The Bad, and The Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us. New York: Viking. 130 pages. ISBN: 9780670011872.
Awards: SLJ Best Books of the Year (2010)
Author's website: www.tanyastone.com/
Annotation: This narrative follows the 1950s birth of a cultural icon, Barbie, and discusses her impact and influence upon young girls in America. Is Barbie a forward thinking role model or a depiction of all that is sexist in this country?
Personal Reaction: Tanya Lee Stone follows the birth and development of Barbie, created from an idea by Ruth Handler, owner of the Mattel Company. In the 1950s, Handler started thinking that older girls needed a doll to play with when she noticed her own daughter as well as other girls had stopped playing with their baby dolls at a certain age. They seemed to move away from the idea of being a "mom" to these babies and instead were looking for something else. The girls enjoyed playing with and dressing up paper dolls, giving Ruth an idea. Soon after, the first Barbie was born and after a short delay, she was a hit! Girls enjoyed playing with and dressing their teen models, which always reflected the current fashion trends. Since Barbie grew up during the womens' rights movement, she became a target for attack, with some opinions saying that they believed that she was a poor representation for young girls. The controversy included the idea that the doll focused too much on looks and was, in fact, sexist. Some argued that Barbie's measurements were impossible to attain and unrealistic, causing young girls to have poor body image. Others believed that Barbie was a forward thinking role model, since Mattel created dolls that were astronauts, policeman, and members of the military just to name a few. Her creator, Ruth Handler, believed that Barbie was about choices, and that young girls who played with the doll were simply role playing and experimenting with things that pertained to their own lives.
Stone explores and discusses a few different views of psychologists. To many, Barbie is simply a toy and they feel that young girls do not project their self image on this doll. Yet other psychologists will argue that the Barbie image causes eating disorders. There is also another perspective, that claims that the doll has nothing to do with these teenage issues, but that society is to blame, since we are always projecting the "perfect image" via magazines with models, etc.
Mattel has worked hard to offer so many types of Barbies in order to satisfy an array of multicultural representations, yet there are always a few that just aren't happy or feel that the Barbies that are created are not realistic enough or don't accurately portray their culture. As a girl who grew up in the 70s with plenty of Barbie dolls and accessories, I never thought of her as anything but a doll. What could be more fun than to dress something up in a variety of outfits, and also enjoy the use of the Barbie airplane? I enjoyed this history of my beloved childhood playmate as well as the controversy that surrounds her. Stone includes beautiful photographs of Barbie through the ages that really help to make this book special.
Front/Back Matter: Table of Contents, Foreword, Prologue, A Note from the Author, Acknowledgements, Source Notes, Bibliography, Photo Credits, Index.
*Bibliographical citation information, award information, as well as image retrieved from www.bwibooks.com (Titletales).
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