Barbie portrays the doll who could do anything. Her world is open for her. She reflects the time period during the beginning of suburbia where middle class families felt that they had the world open to them because of their new positions in suburbs. Barbie's many accessories represented the high consumption lifestyle of these new suburbanites. She had her dream house, completely furnished, a racy sports car, and a wardrobe that expanded almost every day. The economy was booming and consumerism was on the rise and this was shown in the objects and "necessities" that Barbie possessed. This shows that the majority of consumers of Barbie and her accessories were of the suburban middle class. This also holds true for the materialism in today's society. Individuals are constantly striving to own more and more. As Michelle Sit points out, the amount of accessories that children owned of Barbie could be tied in with their social class. The more accesories, the more money the family had to buy their children toys. Some children may have felt left out in this scenario. The ideals of Barbie are portrayed through this ideal of suburbia that material things are very important.

Although Barbie sold that "I can do it all" attitude, there were still limitations on her. A large emphasis, when Barbie came out, was on her beauty and clothes. This reflected the suburban ideal of a woman staying at home, waiting to look gorgeous and be "perfect" for her husband when he came home from work. Many women wanted to achieve the ideal body that Barbie flaunted. She also slowly became a symbol of the body younger girls wished to have when they grew older. Ironically, the dimensions that Barbie would not even be anatomically possible on humans. A women with her dimensions of 36-18-38 would not be able to live. The perfection Barbie portrays has influenced many women attain Barbie's body by having operations to make themselves "look like" Barbie. Cindy Jackson, founder of the Cosmetic Surgery Network, is a famous Barbie Doll human. She had more than twenty operations and dispensed more then $55,000 in her attempts to look like Barbie. Barbie's image of being abel to do it all may have put pressure on many women. In today's society, there is pressure on women to work, have a marriage, make money, take care of the kids, and still try to look beautiful. Barbie's attitude idealizes the hardships women must go through to try and be "perfect".

Barbie was created during a time when suburbia was beginning and the family ideal was very important. However, she had no nuclear family, having no parents or offspring. This is the reason that three years after Barbie was created Ken, her boyfriend, was marketed. This need for Ken truly portrays one of the expectations for women at the time of the 1950's. Women were failures without male companionship, and because Barbie followed her times, it was necessary to create Ken. Barbie and Ken's relationship showed the high value placed on relationships. Women were seen as more stable if involved in a relationship. Barbie portrayed an alternative life that was different from the norm of a nuclear family, but never discarded traditional values.

Even though suburbia was booming and lives seemed to be simple and easy, this does not mean that this era was a utopia. Many women were very unhappy with their domestic lives away from the cities and alone in the house all day. Barbie presented the popular image of independence that perhaps many women of that time would have liked to have. She also showed a sexiness that helped children to dream of the fashionable clothes and statements that they could make when they grew up. Barbie represented the female gender of her times by having what many females wanted, but also by not straying far from the tradition of males in her life.

Barbie not only represented the suburban ideas in gender roles, but also in the exclusion by suburbia by different races. The typical image of the Barbie Doll has been engraved into America's mind set. Most picture the typical Barbie Doll white with blond hair and blue eyes. The black Barbie is in the main stream of markets, but does not sell nearly as many dolls as white Barbie. At the same time, the other ethnic dolls are mainly collectors items. They are dressed in the traditional clothing of their countries. They still do not fully represent those countries, being that the portrayals are highly Americanized and have very "Barbie-like" faces. Their ethnic clothes are from past times and instead of portraying them as American. Maps of the world are given as backgrounds in the boxes, giving them a feeling of separation. Children of other nationalities may not feel a tie or relation to the ethnic Barbie Dolls. If they are American, they probably do not feel a relation to a doll form their "native" country, especially if these ethnic Barbies do no represent the culture.

The reasons that Barbies of different races have not done well could stem from a variety of places. At the release of the first black Barbie, it was during a time of massive segregation, only at the very beginning of civil rights protests. Many parents and white suburbanites may not have been accepting or ready to change their image of what type of doll their children should have. In addition, if every white child of suburbia owned white Barbie dolls and that was the only kind of Barbie massively advertised, this would lead children of other nationalities to possibly feel uncomfortable with the ethnic versions of Barbie. To conform to the norm and accept Barbie would be easier for them.

Throughout our American culture, Barbie has started to represent an ideal. She tries to be the "perfect" women. Now, she is at work and independent with money. Barbie also represents some negative aspects of our society in her materialism, constantly trying to own more and more. Also, she represents our society's problem with recognizing differences. Mattel has tried to market ethnic Barbies, but society will just not buy as many as the original Barbie, which has been implanted in the minds of the American consumers.


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