Ride ‘Em Barbie Girl: Commodifying Folklore, Place, and the Exotic
Document Type
Contribution to Book
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Worldviewsand the West: The Life of the Place Itself
Publisher
Utah State University Press
Publication Date
2000
First Page
65
Last Page
86
Abstract
In 1959, Ruth Handler of Mattel - inspired by paper dolls and a German sex doll - created an adult doll for little girls and named her Barbie. According to Mattel, the doll's full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts, and she attended Willows High School in Willows, Wisconsin, and then went to "State College" (Robins 1989, 26). Barbie M. Roberts has come a long way since those early days. In 1996 Mattel's net sales reached $3.8 billion, and Barbie dolls represented nearly one-half of these sales (Sarashon-Kahn 1998, 1). If all the Barbies sold as of 1997 were lined up head to toe, they would circle the earth more than eleven times (Tosa 1998, 107). Today, two Barbies sell every second somewhere in the world ("Twin Fates" 1999, 121). Clearly Barbie is a sales success.
Recommended Citation
“Ride ‘Em Barbie Girl: Commodifying Folklore, Place, and the Exotic.” In Worldviews and the West: The Life of the Place Itself, ed. Polly Stewart, Steve Siporin, C. W. Sullivan, and Suzi Jones, pp. 65-86. Logan: Utah State University Press, 2000.
