As I read through some of the history of Barbie, I came across this little paragraph on the Barbie Collector Website: “It all started when Ruth Handler noticed her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls and imagining them in grown up roles. Ruth realized that dolls on the market at the time were all baby dolls, and that there was a need for a doll that would inspire little girls to think about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Thus the idea for Barbie doll, the teenage fashion model, was born. Ruth named the doll Barbie, after her daughter – and the rest is history.” This quote made me think about how little girls really do look at Barbie and the accomplishments she has occurred in her pretend world, could someday imitate what we expect of ourselves to accomplish. Two Barbies immediately came to mind that made all of this talk about future careers really make sense: Astronaut Barbie and the Anne Klein Barbie. One Christmas morning when I was about ten and my sister was eleven, we both received what would become of all-time favorite Barbie from Santa. Krissy unwrapped the special edition Astronaut Barbie, and I unwrapped the Anne Klein Barbie. Now it may seem that just because we were given a certain Barbie that does not mean th
at that would be our future career choice. But I can say that it does make sense that my sister is now studying Aerospace engineering and hoping some day to become an astronaut or at least design spacecrafts for NASA. And for me, I am studying business and entrepreneurship in hopes that someday I will become the founder of my own business. I can’t say that Barbie influenced where my sister and I would pursue our interests, but I can say that looking back, I do understand now why I may not picked my Teacher Barbie or Doctor Barbie to play with more than I did my business looking Barbie. It may be a far fetched theory, but I think that the Barbie that one considers as their favorite when they are a little girl, could showcase a certain career interest that could be part of that same girls future. On a lighter note, this assumption could hold to be very wrong, because in fact that would mean that my little sister will end up being a famous singer…and by the sound of her singing voice it looks as though this could never happen. However, maybe that just means that her future career is something that Barbie still needs to accomplish as well.
at that would be our future career choice. But I can say that it does make sense that my sister is now studying Aerospace engineering and hoping some day to become an astronaut or at least design spacecrafts for NASA. And for me, I am studying business and entrepreneurship in hopes that someday I will become the founder of my own business. I can’t say that Barbie influenced where my sister and I would pursue our interests, but I can say that looking back, I do understand now why I may not picked my Teacher Barbie or Doctor Barbie to play with more than I did my business looking Barbie. It may be a far fetched theory, but I think that the Barbie that one considers as their favorite when they are a little girl, could showcase a certain career interest that could be part of that same girls future. On a lighter note, this assumption could hold to be very wrong, because in fact that would mean that my little sister will end up being a famous singer…and by the sound of her singing voice it looks as though this could never happen. However, maybe that just means that her future career is something that Barbie still needs to accomplish as well.
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