What is Barbie?

Moniker: The Histories and Mysteries of Names

Jan 17 2022 • 13 mins

She's pink! She's fun! She's complicated!

The world loves Barbie. She's a staple of American girlhood.

But how did Barbie get her name? Is Barbie a person or a species? When/why did Barbie become a derogatory  term against women?

fire up your pink convertibles, because we're getting into the history of Barbie and the impact of her name on culture.

Sources:

Articles:
Biography of Ruth Handler, Inventor of Barbie Dolls (thoughtco.com)

Fame Dogs 'Real' Barbie, Ken - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)

The Amazing Ruth Handler, The Woman Behind Barbie - Antique Trader

Real People Behind Big Names (oprah.com)

Sad Clown | On the Media | WNYC Studios

BBC NEWS | Americas | Barbie loses battle over bimbo image

Books:
Gerber, R. (2010). Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her (Illustrated ed.). Harper Business.

Handler, R., & Shannon, J. (1995).
Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story (1st ed.). Longmeadow Pr.


Websites:
www.etymologyonline.com
www.behindthename.com

Music:
Toyohiko Santoh
Psalm 23
Lute Music from the Netherlands
https://archive.org/details/cd_lute-music-from-the-netherlands_toyohiko-satoh
www.archive.org

Market by PeriTune | http://peritune.com
Music promoted by
https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0




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