When she was seven years old, our daughter Shannon questioned Ruth Handler—then CEO of Mattel and creator of “Barbie”—on the untapped potential of that plastic paragon of playthings. She got more than she bargained for. Spinning away from a TV commercial where “G.I. Joe” was flashing about in robust acts of derring-do, Shannon demanded an explanation. “How come the boy Barbies get to do all kinds of things like swing on ropes and drive Jeeps and other stuff, but all you can do with the girl Barbies is change their clothes and brush their hair, change their clothes and brush their hair, change their clothes and brush their hair?!”
How Barbie's Mother Launched Our Daughter
How Barbie's Mother Launched Our Daughter
How Barbie's Mother Launched Our Daughter
When she was seven years old, our daughter Shannon questioned Ruth Handler—then CEO of Mattel and creator of “Barbie”—on the untapped potential of that plastic paragon of playthings. She got more than she bargained for. Spinning away from a TV commercial where “G.I. Joe” was flashing about in robust acts of derring-do, Shannon demanded an explanation. “How come the boy Barbies get to do all kinds of things like swing on ropes and drive Jeeps and other stuff, but all you can do with the girl Barbies is change their clothes and brush their hair, change their clothes and brush their hair, change their clothes and brush their hair?!”