Barbie's Iconic Status - Essay Example

Visual Essay: Barbie's Iconic Status

This paper discusses the most popular doll in the world and the factors that led to its success as an icon of popular culture. In order to determine the causes for the doll's outstanding popularity, it would be important to observe the issue using the iconic theory. Moreover, semiotics will help to understand the role of Barbie doll in the mass culture through revealing the meaning of the doll itself and the influence it has on society.

Most researchers believe that the mass, or popular, culture has always existed in our society. However, in recent decades, its impact on human civilization has grown significantly and has resulted in the development of such phenomena as the pop diplomacy and politics (Sweet 2011). Nevertheless, it is to be said that a background form of pop culture laid in the presence of structures of mass society. However, culture gets the prefix "pop" if it turns into something more than just a game or a creative mind reflexing. In other words, it happens to such kind of work that should be widely known and popular in the community.

In this regard, the history of Barbie brand begins with the creation of the toys of the same name. Today, it is hard to find a person who has never heard of a leggy blonde doll. This is not surprising. After all, she is the most successful doll in the history of toys. This beauty with long hair, bright eyes, a dazzling smile and a perfect figure represented an ideal to which girls begin to seek ("Barbie: The Impact Of A Cultural Icon – Conscienhealth" 2013). Barbie became best friend and constant companion, a favorite activity for girls of all years of existence. Barbie doll has become the first doll dressed sharply in accordance with fashion trends (Szmigin 2016).

Barbie, a doll that became a symbol of the twentieth century, continues its path in twenty-first century, constantly changing, but without changing herself, and conquering new hearts of the consumers. The doll has always been this: beautiful, vibrant, the one that keeps up with fashion and sometimes being even ahead of it. The history of toys does not know a more controversial toy than a Barbie doll: Barbie opponents never tire of talking about the wrong proportions of her body and the disastrous consequences of her game, yet fans admire the beauty of the beloved doll that brings them joy and inspiration (Szmigin 2016).

The "mom" of the famous doll is Ruth Handler (“Barbie” 2016). Ruth and her husband Elliot in the 1940s opened the Mattel company - the business of manufacturing frames for pictures. The idea of creating an "adult doll" for little girls appeared when Ruth saw that her daughter Barbara likes playing with the paper "adult dolls." Ruth then realized that such toys can be more popular than the dolls for children (“Barbie” 2016).

Since 1959, that is to debut, Barbie has become a symbol. Ruth Handler undeniably invented the symbol of America. Barbie has acted as a style icon for many girls, as well as a reflection of the changing American society (Szmigin 2016). These changes can be seen in the change of clothes, hairstyle, and make-up of the doll with time in the history of its professional transformations, as well as in the production line of dolls of different cultures (Weissman 1999).

Since Barbie was the epitome of an adult woman, it is natural that the public reaction to it was ambiguous. After the doll has been provided, many women were amazed with its mature body (Szmigin 2016). Mothers refused to buy their children a doll with such appearance, and said that it is more suited to their fathers. However, little girls loved Barbie and, despite the protests of mothers, she became incredibly popular and sold. Moreover, with the advent of television era, the company began to advertise Mattel Barbie and then it was aimed not only at children, but also at teenagers who were able to buy a doll for themselves, without asking permission of the parents (Szmigin 2016).

She appeared on the market as an innovative business project – a doll mannequin with constantly updated wardrobe, which inevitably entails the purchase of all subsequent versions ("Barbie: The Impact Of A Cultural Icon – Conscienhealth" 2013). The calculation was accurate: the third generation of American girls and their peers around the world begged for their new plastic girlfriend. In the early 1960s Barbie has become a leader among the beauties in the history of dolls ("Barbie: The Impact Of A Cultural Icon – Conscienhealth" 2013). This is not surprising: the doll was "born" at a time when the world has overestimated the role of women, when sophisticated high fashion began to occupy a huge role in the lives of people. Barbie has demonstrated the fact that the woman is not just a housewife and mother, she is strong, and can achieve great things: she can be independent, wealthy, and popular (“Life in Plastic” 2002). Mattel relied on trends in American society: they created everything for Barbie, including cars, houses, and other property.

With the advent of the doll once, there were "well-wishers" saying that Barbie is simply an imitation around fraught with real problems in adult life. At first, it was just a doll, though a super successful one. Over the years, it grew into its role, becoming a bosom friend, companion and mentor of millions of girls around the world. In this Mattel strongly contribute regularly introducing elements of life dolls real life their small clients. Wardrobe and the things surrounding Barbie continuously amended and supplemented. Therefore, in 1964, it produced a set of "Barbie Goes to College (“Barbie” 2016)." In 1984, Los Angeles hosted the Olympics, and Barbie has become a professional swimmer. For hundreds of millions of young Americans Barbie has become the embodiment of the Great American Dream: in the future, it should not be just good, but fine - this also applies to personal life and health, and career (Szmigin 2016).

It was challenged by secular ideas about what should play a little woman. The architect of modern mass culture Andy Warhol turned Barbie into a cultural icon of America the second half of the twentieth century, along with Marilyn Monroe (Szmigin 2016). The creators of the doll followed the traditions in every country they produced a doll; they considered a particular country and at the time considered a sign of sexuality and attractiveness. The first Barbie has had plucked eyebrows, brightly painted lips, porcelain skin, wasp waist, slender legs and, of course, a bust. More modest than that of Marilyn Monroe, but for many, it seemed too much.

The doll itself can be seen as an object, which combines the expression of a timeless symbolic interpretation of body and gesture that reaction to his surroundings, which allows to outline the signs of contact with it. Of course, it is not only and not so much about Barbie as its inverse image, which appeared with the first people who saw in a piece of wood or stone to be transformed into a shape like a man.

Barbie successful phenomenon is in the fact that, following the age-old tradition, the company Mattel has created a product that meets the conditions of the era of mass culture. Mattel has not invented anything radically new, and used old traditions very well (Sweet 2011). Because of its appearance Barbie doll can try on any role - enough to change her clothes, surround the necessary accessories, to the puppet of the satellite and the same girlfriends are going to help her cope with the role. Of course, it will never be a grotesque character, but this is not necessary, because playing on the gap between the "children's and adult’s" the company "Mattel" chooses the safe path, which is characteristic for the whole of the phenomenon of mass culture. In this regard, the toy world reflects the real problems of society, such as emancipation, family relationships, sexual norms, career, political correctness, and many others. During a heated debate, supporters and opponents of the dolls, without noticing, have created a whole mythology for Barbie.

Barbie is always responsive to changes and trends of the era, skillfully adapting to them. There were changes in hairstyles and hair color; the proportions were modified for a doll body. The company Mattel has released a number of different nationalities of Barbie in ethnic costumes of the countries concerned. The doll also addressed the role of the most famous women of the century, an example of the images of Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor (Sweet 2011). In the period of struggle for gender equality, Barbie have made a career in various fields, and therefore became a teacher, a doctor, a flight attendant, and even a firewoman. The road to success of the Barbie dolls, is and will be in its ability to change, to keep up with the times. It has evolved, making a career from model to businesswoman, and even a president. The popularity of Barbie dolls has been stable for the past five decades and is likely to continue even during the long years to come.