1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:09,959 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you welcome to stop? Mom never told you? 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: From House to works dot Com. Hey there, and welcome 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Kristen h Molly Molly. As we speak, 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: every second, two Barbies are being sold somewhere in the world. Wow, 6 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: that is that's astounding. That's a lot of Barbies. That's 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: according to Mattel, the manufacturer of Barbie. Yep, lots of 8 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: Barbies being sold. And Barbies, I think are sort of 9 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: the one thing that I mean, if you're in a 10 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: name like ten things you think of when you think 11 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: of women and their toys, I guess you come up 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: with Barbie. Yeah, Barbie's the most popular toy in the world. 13 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: She is the queen of toys. But truth be told, Molly, 14 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: I never owned a Barbie. That doesn't surprise me, Kristen, Yeah, 15 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: me neither. Um. My mom really wasn't into her busty figure, 16 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: so I got cabbage patch dolls instead, which kind of 17 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: looked like sexy potatoes. Yeah. I had Barbies. I got um, 18 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: I had about three, I think, and but I never 19 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: got Barbie. Closed from the store. I inherited all my 20 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,759 Speaker 1: mom's Barbie clothes, which were hands owned by my grandmother. 21 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: So my Barbie, I think, was a little bit more 22 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: stylish than other Barbies with clothes from my grandma. Yeah, 23 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: they're pretty cute. A lot of Grandma was pretty uh 24 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 1: gretty hip. Grandma made a corduroy suit for Barbie that 25 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: she rocked like. It was like, give that girl a 26 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:36,759 Speaker 1: job argue with a corduroy suit. Mommy, do you think 27 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: your mom would have been as into Barbie though she 28 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: knew about her, her her sexy predecessor. I am shocked. 29 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: I was shocked to learn about barbie sordid and dark 30 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: past has a sex doll. Let's talk about this. Let's 31 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: talk about Barbie's Barbie's secret past. Um. On July, we're 32 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: in Germany. It's after World War two, is in did 33 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: things are a little chaotic days, probably dark days. And 34 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: there's a German tabloid that's still in existence, actually called 35 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: what's it called Christian. I'm not a native German speaker, 36 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: so I apologize if I do not pronounce this correctly, 37 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: but I did look the pronunciation up on the internet, 38 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: and it is uh as close as I can get 39 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: build z tongue. And on that day, July, a cartoon 40 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: called Lily was featured for the first time. And Lily 41 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,079 Speaker 1: was a saucy little dame. Okay, she was. She was blonde, 42 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 1: very busty, rarely wore much more than a bra and 43 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: some newspaper across her lab and she was basically a 44 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: gold digger. She was out for for money. She always 45 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: dated these fat cats who didn't treat her well, but 46 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: as long as they bought her clothes and diamond necklaces, 47 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: she was happy. And she always said little sassy things 48 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: that the German Men just loved. But really she had 49 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: to make do right. The war had sort of forced 50 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: her into a very poor state, and rather than you know, 51 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: be drugged down by it, she wanted to be provided for. 52 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: I think that's sort of a natural response after after 53 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: a war, sort of Scarlett o'harah, he will be with 54 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: fat cats is a natural response to wartime poverty. Maybe so, Molly, 55 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: so Barbie taught me. Whatever the case, Uh, Lily became 56 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: such a popular character that in nineteen fifty five they 57 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: decided to turn her into a doll, bring her into 58 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: the three D world of doll and she wasn't I mean, 59 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: she wasn't a doll in the sense that little girls 60 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: played with her. No. No, Lily was not marketed for 61 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 1: for babies. As we mentioned, it was sort of a 62 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: sex doll for adult men. I mean she was only 63 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: only seven inches long, um or eleven inches me. She 64 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: wasn't the full size sex dolls who might imagine today. Right, 65 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: We're not talking about like a blow up doll or anything. 66 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: She was just sort of a funny little bachelor gift 67 00:03:57,680 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: that guys would give each other. She would usually wear 68 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: saucy little outfits. Um, I've seen one Lily doll wearing 69 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: just a little little black nightie. And uh, if you 70 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: if you look at her face closely, she she has 71 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: these really uh I keep saying saucy. She has these 72 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: really pouty lips, and her eyes look off to the 73 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: side sort of. Um, she doesn't even make eye contact 74 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: with She kind of has bedroom eyes, right. And one 75 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 1: of the taglines was whether I don't know if you 76 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: want to say this in your German X, but one 77 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: of the taglines was whether more or less naked Lily 78 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: is always discreet? Yeah, she was obviously advertised as you know, 79 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: just sort of a funny little toy. And I read 80 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: this one account about how German men would sometimes put 81 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:48,679 Speaker 1: her on their dashboard in their car, and and friends 82 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 1: of theirs would like to just pick up her skirt 83 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: every now and then. They're pretty easily entertained after the war, 84 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: I guess. Yeah, sex toys back then evidently were far 85 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: more dame than sex toys now. But anyways, a whole 86 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: lot of podcast So Molly, So let's say that you're 87 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: on vacation and you see this doll. You got a 88 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,359 Speaker 1: little girl at home, and you have been kind of 89 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: frustrated that all she has to do is play with 90 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: like paper dolls and baby dolls. Yeah, the dolls marketed 91 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: for girls back then were um, like you said, other 92 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: paper dolls that would depict you know, women, women, older women, 93 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: curve or like Lily or the actual three D dolls 94 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: that they would play with were uh, mostly just kind 95 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: of pot bellied, pre pubescent girls. No boobs, no hips, 96 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: none of that. So let's say you're a woman who 97 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: wants your daughter to play with more than just you know, 98 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: these two extremes of the thing. You want her to 99 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: have sort of a maybe a relatable role model and 100 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: you're on vacation, you pick up a lily dollah, in fact, 101 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: you pick up three, and you go home and you 102 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: start a worldwide doll empire. Tell us how that happened, Kristen, Well, 103 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: Molly Uh, That exact scenario happened to a woman named 104 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:00,479 Speaker 1: Ruth Handler. Now Ruth Handler happened to have just started 105 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: a company with her husband, Elliott, called Mattel. I like, 106 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: where this is guy? Yeah. Elliott and Ruth moved out 107 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: to California during World War Two and they got into 108 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: the plastics business and they started making plastic picture frames 109 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: and then somehow that spiraled into ukulele. The first big 110 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 1: hit was this plastic ukulele that they made, and it 111 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: was all these kids loved it sold a ton, and 112 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: so eventually Mattel decided to go into the toy business. 113 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,559 Speaker 1: They wanted to take over the toy industry. And after 114 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: World War Two you have this boom in consumerism, and 115 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,559 Speaker 1: as companies are looking for new ways to market things, 116 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:46,040 Speaker 1: they discovered that kids are actually a whole consumer group 117 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: all to their own. And with the debut of The 118 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,159 Speaker 1: Mickey Mouse Show actually in ninety five, that really sort 119 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: of set off this trend. Of advertising directly to kids. 120 00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: So all of this is going on with sort of 121 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: the revolutionizing of the American toy industry. Mattel is taking off. 122 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 1: Ruth Handler decides to jet set off to Switzerland. And yes, 123 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: she sees none else then Lily sitting in a shop window, 124 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: and she thinks she's adorable. She doesn't think that she's 125 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: some some sexy little novelty for German bachelor men. No, 126 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: she sees a new playmate for her daughter. Yeah, she 127 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: has this daughter, Barbara, who um, I think maybe she 128 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: was ten or twelve at the time, and she had 129 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: noticed that whenever Barbara and her her girlfriends would play 130 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: with her paper dolls, they would always choose see adult women, 131 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: and she thought that that was their way of practicing 132 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: for adulthood, right like you would sort of, you know, 133 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: pretend to be a mom, pretend to you know, have 134 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: a girl playing house maybe things that they saw their 135 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: moms doing, and they were start of practicing that role 136 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: through their dolls exactly. But aside from like I mentioned before, 137 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: aside from the paper dolls, there were no other sort 138 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: of physical dolls that they could really take the clothes 139 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: on and off of, brush their hair all of that. 140 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: So when Ruth Handler saw Lily, she bought three and 141 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: brought them back to the US to show give one 142 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: to her daughter, Barbara, and then you see other two 143 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:13,239 Speaker 1: as models for a new doll for Mattel. And since 144 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: Barbara was sort of the you know, uh inspiration for 145 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: buying Lily, they named this new doll Barbie Barbie. What 146 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: do you know? Now, if you hold up a an 147 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: original Lily doll with the original Barbie, they look pretty similar. 148 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: Ruth Handler did have sort of a hard time convincing 149 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: the all male design staff at Mattel that they really 150 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:38,720 Speaker 1: should go for put all this energy into making a 151 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: new doll, But once it finally happened, it was a 152 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 1: pretty painstaking process. They went over to Japan to the 153 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: factories too, because they wanted to craft this perfect doll, 154 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,199 Speaker 1: and when they were deciding how to designer, they pretty 155 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: much kept the same figure as Lily, this very curvaceous bombshell. 156 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: It did take off I guess the original. It was 157 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: pretty pretty made up, had a lot of trollop paint on, yes, 158 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,679 Speaker 1: sort of downplayed all of that, and um, but her 159 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 1: eyes still the original Barbie doll still had that sideward 160 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: sideways gaze. She debuted at the nineteen fifty nine New 161 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: York Toy Fair wearing saucy heels and a black and 162 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: white striped strapless one piece swimsuit and some very classy sunglasses. 163 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: And I think one of the reasons we should probably 164 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,319 Speaker 1: mention here that she kept the kind of figure that 165 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: would let her wear this saucy spoast did she keep 166 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: saying is that when they were designing clothes for this 167 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 1: new doll, to get the clothes to fit right and 168 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: not just look like these shapeless move moves, basically they 169 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 1: needed to have curves for the clothes to fall on 170 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: because they were using real fabric used for real people, 171 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: and it didn't have sort of the give that tiny 172 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: people need, and so it was basically just to keep 173 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: the clothes looking shapely. So the funny thing about this 174 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: debut of Barbie, now the most buler toy in the world, 175 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: is that she really did not make waves at the 176 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: New York Toy Fair. The manufacturers or the boy store 177 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: owners really kind of couldn't care less at first about her. 178 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: I wouldn't imagine that it would be sort of the 179 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: thing to do to buy real, big, big booby doll, 180 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: well exactly, Mattel had a pretty pretty big task on 181 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: their hand of figuring out how exactly to market this 182 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,079 Speaker 1: very busty doll. Because when they were serving before they 183 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: put her out on the market, but serving mothers to 184 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: see whether or not they would buy this for their daughter. 185 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: A lot of mothers were very concerned about barbies bus size. 186 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: They thought that it would that their husbands would be 187 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: a little more into Barbie than they should be. So 188 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:45,679 Speaker 1: they brought in this advertising guru named Ernest Dicter to 189 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: figure out how exactly to dive into the female psyche 190 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 1: and get those women to buy their daughters Barbies. And 191 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: he came up with a pretty ingenious plan, right yeah. 192 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: Instead of sort of running away from this potential scandal um, 193 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: he said, why don't you use this as a teaching device. 194 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: Why don't you say, here's this very well dressed, attractive doll. 195 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 1: Don't you want to grow up and be well dressed 196 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: and attractive. Then learn these lessons about what an ideal 197 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: feminine appearances. So instead of trying to hide Barbies insane 198 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: bus line and hips, he said, emphasize them. Emphasize how 199 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: you look in a swimsuit, and as you can just 200 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: see from a line like that, this is the thing 201 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,320 Speaker 1: that's gonna get Barbie in trouble much much later. And 202 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,280 Speaker 1: it didn't take a long time for this marketing to 203 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 1: really take off. I think it by the by the 204 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:36,440 Speaker 1: end of the first year of her being on the market, 205 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: little girls were buying Barbies everywhere. She was just flying 206 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: off the shelf. And at that point she was she 207 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: was marketed as a teen fashion model. So it's pretty 208 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: brilliant of Mattel because that way, if she's a fashion model, 209 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: fashion models need what clothes, clothes, lots and lots of clothes. 210 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,560 Speaker 1: And it wasn't long before Barbie's boyfriend Ken came along. 211 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: He came around in nine and just like Barbie, as 212 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: a tribute to Ruth Handler's daughter, Ken was named for 213 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: her son. So basically, um, though many a girl has 214 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: probably you know, let Barbie and Can have their way 215 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: with each other, you're actually playing with um siblings. It's 216 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: a little incestuous and maybe I don't know, maybe that's 217 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:19,599 Speaker 1: why Mattel never let Barbie and Can get married or 218 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: have babies. Well, I mean, Barbie did have quite a 219 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,840 Speaker 1: few dream weddings as I recall, but I think they were. 220 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: But Barbie. Mattel has always been very careful to keep 221 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: Barbie's single, never really had I mean, you've had Barbie 222 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,559 Speaker 1: in a wedding dress, but she she's had so many 223 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: careers in her in her lifetime, right, I think that 224 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: Mattel was trying to show, you know, you don't necessarily 225 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: need the man Ken was always an optional accessory. Um, 226 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: but you could have a lot of careers you could have, 227 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 1: you know, it could be a doctor, a veterinarian, a 228 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: race car driver, a McDonald's cashier, shoot for the Stars, 229 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: really Dallas cowboy, cheerleader. And one of the first big 230 00:12:56,559 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 1: makeovers that that Barbie underwent was the release of Malibu Barbie, 231 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: the first Melaibu Barbie in nineteen seventy one. She was 232 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,920 Speaker 1: a little tanner, she had more of the platinum blonde 233 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: hair that we think of when we think of Barbie today. 234 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: And for the first time, she looked at you straight on. 235 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,560 Speaker 1: No more of those sideways, tawdry glances. Barbie was looking 236 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: at you right in the eye. But eventually, Kristen, what 237 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: Mattel had to look right in the eye was the 238 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: fact that it wasn't always going to work to sell 239 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: Barbie as this sort of female role model. Eventually someone 240 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: did the math and figured that with Barbie's thirty eight 241 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty four measurements, she may not have been able 242 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,680 Speaker 1: to menstruate. I mean, she is a skinny girl. She 243 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,319 Speaker 1: uh she, you know, to be fair, it's sort of 244 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:42,079 Speaker 1: an unrealistic body image. And so if your ad campaign 245 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: is built around teaching girls, you know, look like Barbie, 246 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: learned to grow up like Barbie, then that's that's a 247 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: ton of red bells right there. There are bells, red, red, 248 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:56,839 Speaker 1: red flags. It's a ton of red flags. Right. And 249 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: in Ninete Mittel downsized Barbie a little bit. They gave 250 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 1: her a little plastic surgery, but she's still just as 251 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:08,439 Speaker 1: cravacious as she ever was. He's a busty girl, right 252 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: And U this this whole connection between negative body image 253 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,319 Speaker 1: in Little Girls and Barbie has been referred to as 254 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: the Barbie syndrome. But I gotta say, Molly, and trying 255 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: to figure out whether or not this Barbie syndrome exists, 256 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: the research is a little lacking. Really. There hasn't been 257 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: a lot of the the articles about how you know, 258 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 1: Barbie is evil and she's promoting bad self esteem. Were 259 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: mostly anecdotal and opinionment base. The one study I think 260 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: in two thousand came out in two thousand four found 261 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 1: nixed results when they were surveying girls from six to 262 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: eighth grade about their views on Barbie. Some liked her, 263 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: some didn't, just kind of just it was a mixed bag, 264 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: nothing conclusive about whether or not she was actually chilling 265 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: girl self esteems. So it's it's possible that you could 266 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: play with barbies and not be completely sure you played 267 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: with destroid. Yeah, I played with barbies, but there was 268 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: a there was a definite moment, and I hear I 269 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: hear anecdotally that this is sort of true across the board, 270 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: where you kind of you start torturing your Barbies as 271 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: a way to uh, you know, you know, sociologists will 272 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: have a field day with this. But I think that 273 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: it's been described in some ways is sort of renouncing 274 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: your childhood and putting all of that away and saying, 275 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: you know, now I am no longer playing with dolls, 276 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: I'm no longer buying into dressing up all the time, 277 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: and I'm moving forward. But what are they moving forward to? Kristen, 278 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: have they been I'm still not convinced that they haven't 279 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: been damaged by Barbies. For example, Kristen, here, I've got 280 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: this for you. What do you make of the barbie 281 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: who said math class is tough? Molly? Okay? That was 282 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: that was bad. Mattel definitely had egg on its face 283 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: after that. But they pulled that barbie from the shelf, 284 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: and um, you know, yeah, I mean all of Barbies pink. 285 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: Everything in her life is pink. It's all about clothes, 286 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: she's got the car. Everything is very consumer oriented for sure. 287 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: But do you think that maybe Barbie epitomizes a certain 288 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: gender role. And let me give you an example. There's 289 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: this big thing called the Barbie Liberation Organization and this 290 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: was based on New York City. And what they would 291 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:15,200 Speaker 1: do is they did buy Barbies that had the voice boxes, 292 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 1: and they buy g I Joes that had voice boxes, 293 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: and they'd switched the voice boxes. So, you know, one day, 294 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: a little Johnny opens up a g I Joe that says, 295 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,160 Speaker 1: let's plan our dream wedding? Or will I ever have 296 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: enough clothes? Zany Environnie would say, you know, eat crap 297 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: and die, or vengeance is mine and it was meant 298 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: to show that Barbie really is kind of um imparting 299 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: these sort of unbair gender stereotypes onto a girl. So 300 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: if they think that, you know, they have to grow 301 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: up and care about a dream wedding and buy pink 302 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: convertible and live in a dream house, absolutely I think 303 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: that you can't. You can't get away from the fact 304 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: that that Barbie definitely stands for stereotypical generals. But to 305 00:16:55,240 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: Mattel's credit, Barbie has been CEO of a company, president, astronaut. 306 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:05,960 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, at least at least she's got 307 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 1: a job. She's a working woman. She's always been a 308 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: working woman. She has a working woman. She's not like 309 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:11,840 Speaker 1: the Lilies of Old who just waited for Ken to 310 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: come around. And as we mentioned, she never married Ken. 311 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: She dumped Ken actually in two thousand. Before she dumped Ken, 312 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: she's like, I'm tired of dating my brother. This is weird, 313 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 1: been weird for long enough, and as of now, I 314 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 1: believe she's still single. I think that there was a 315 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,600 Speaker 1: surfer dude for a while, but he was just a rebound. Well, 316 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: whatever the case, whether whether Barbie really has the stronghold 317 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,160 Speaker 1: over over girls in her self esteems there there are 318 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: some new girls on the block who are threatening to 319 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 1: take over Barbie's territory. Really, are they just as evil 320 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: as Barbie? Um? Well, let's say that they are not 321 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:47,200 Speaker 1: as uh there as prim really? Uh? Have you ever 322 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 1: heard of a little little doll line called Brats with 323 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 1: a z o? Chris, and I know how you feel 324 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 1: about brat I gotta say, Brat's they just freaked me out. 325 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: I don't know, why do they freak you out more 326 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,920 Speaker 1: than just a Barbie? And I'm naturally proportionate Barbie, right, 327 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,399 Speaker 1: They're definitely they aren't as curvaceous as Barbie. But Brett's 328 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 1: just have a little more sauce, if you will. They've 329 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: got a lot more makeup on. They're wearing tiny tops, 330 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: and I don't know, they just look they just look 331 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: a little racy to me. Call me, call me a prude, 332 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: but grandma, I know, I'm kind of my grandma sometimes. 333 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,840 Speaker 1: But girls love them. Brat's were flying off the shelf 334 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: and Mattel kind of got freaked out, and in two 335 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: thousand six, Matel filed a suit against the Brat's doll manufacturer, 336 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:39,400 Speaker 1: m g A Entertainment for alleged copyright and intellectual property 337 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:44,719 Speaker 1: rights violations because a designer, I believe at Mattel, who 338 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: was working on working on Barbie at the time, then 339 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: went over to mg A Entertainment and started working on Brats, 340 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: so they thought he was giving some some secret information 341 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: over they might actually own, and Mattel Mattel won the suit. 342 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: And I think right now brats are not currently being manufactured, 343 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,679 Speaker 1: but still you were probably behind this whole suit, Christian, 344 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,640 Speaker 1: because I know you have hatred for Brat's in your heart, 345 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:11,199 Speaker 1: but that's not going to help you get rid of 346 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 1: all the other wannabes. I mean, there are Hannam Montana dolls. 347 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: They're high school musical dolls. You're not going to get 348 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 1: away from dolls. And I gotta you know, we gotta 349 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,399 Speaker 1: say that Barbie did also follow up on Brats with 350 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: the mycene Barbie. What was that Barbie? It kind of 351 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,879 Speaker 1: looked like a brat's version of Barbie, and people people 352 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 1: made criticize matel for that. They kind of pointed it 353 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: and laughed. And I guess maybe it's just generational. We 354 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,719 Speaker 1: grew up with them, Maybe we grew up with more 355 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,080 Speaker 1: properly dressed Barbies, and it's I mean, I never had 356 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: a Barbie with a halter topped to you. Well, I 357 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: never had a Barbie at well my Barbie maybe because 358 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:49,120 Speaker 1: my grandmother made the clothes while she was snazzy. Don't 359 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: get me wrong, she didn't have like a one piece 360 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: from suit. She didn't have a bikini, whereas I think 361 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: that now Beach Barbie or whatever their name for beach 362 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: Barbie is, probably probably has a bikini. Yea. Well, Barbie's 363 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: definitely not hurting for cash, not ry for cash. And 364 00:20:02,359 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: I will say, you know, I've been a little hard 365 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,439 Speaker 1: on Barbie, but I do think it's can be like 366 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: an imaginative plaything. Like my Barbie has got into a 367 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: lot of fun scrapes. They learned a lot about playing 368 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 1: with My Barbies, about life and love and tearing the 369 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: Kendall's head off, which happened more than once. But um yeah, 370 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: I didn't know though that I was playing with a 371 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:27,439 Speaker 1: prototype sex doll. Yeah, everybody's got a dirty secret, right, 372 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 1: But that's a subject for another podcast. Yeah, I bet 373 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 1: about old Lily wish that she was friends with Barbie. 374 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: Now m Barbie's profits for two thousand and eight Top 375 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: one point two billion. She kind of rules the world. 376 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: She does. Barbie is the Oprah of the dull world. 377 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 1: So there you have it. There you have it. And 378 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:45,560 Speaker 1: if you want to learn more about Barbie's dirty past, 379 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 1: check out this article written by our very own Kristen. 380 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: And that's me What American icon was inspired by a 381 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: German sex toy. And if you have any comments or questions, 382 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 1: feel free to send us an email at mom stuff 383 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:04,439 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. For more on this 384 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:07,119 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics, is it how stuff works 385 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: dot com. Want more how stuff works, check out our 386 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: blogs on the house. Stuff works dot com home page 387 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 388 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: It's ready, are you