Weekly Reader: Barbie and Ruth: The Story of The World's Most Famous Doll and The Woman Who Created Her by Robin Gerber; A Brilliant Biography of Two Amazing Women, One Real and One Plastic

Weekly Reader: Barbie and Ruth: The Story of The World's Most Famous Doll and The Woman Who Created Her by Robin Gerber; A Brilliant Biography of Two Amazing Women, One Real and One Plastic

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Barbie has always been a double-edged sword with people. She is the image people put into her. On the one hand, many criticize her for her body and for providing girls with unrealistic expectations on how they should look. (A very creepy fact is that some women have gone through numerous plastic surgeries to receive Barbie’s exact appearance including augmenting their bodies to get her extreme measurements.) She also has been parodied as a bimbo fashionista in pop culture such as the movie, Toy Story 2 and the ‘90’s pop song, “Barbie Girl” by Aqua. (I apologize for the earworm. I am suffering for it, believe me.)

Barbie has also had her share of defenders. She is seen as the ultimate career woman having taken on various occupations from model, to astronaut, to doctor, to teacher, to computer programmer, to video game designer. Besides her various occupations, Mattel’s executives are never afraid to reinvent Barbie's brand such as creating multicultural friends for Barbie, dressing her in traditional costumes from around the world, creating her in the likeness of various well-known real-life women such as Olympic gymnast, Gabby Douglas and ballerina, Misty Copeland, and recently providing various sizes and body types for the doll including petite, curvy, and tall. Many ad campaigns focus on Barbie's abilities to inspire young girls to fulfill their dreams such as “We Girls Can Do Anything” and “Imagine the Possibilities”. (The latter campaign is particularly clever and charming as it shows young girls taking on adult jobs such as executive, coach, college professor, veterinarian, and paleontologist to a group of bemused but delighted adults.)

While Barbie appears to be an expert at reinventing herself to fit with the times, she could also take a cue from her creator, Ruth Handler (1916-2002) who knew a lot about reinvention and about being a high powered female executive in a man’s world. This brilliant book covers Handler's success in leading Mattel to its highest popularity thanks to their blond beauty and also her struggles as a female executive and controversies when she was indicted for fraud.

Ruth Handler's background as the tenth child of  a Polish Jewish immigrant family suggests one which was both crowded and overwhelming for her parents. After her mother received gall bladder surgery, the then six month old, Ruth Mosko lived with her older sister, Sarah who then raised young Ruthie instead of her parents. Through Sarah, Handler learned to be a working woman and not to be content to stay at home with the children and household while her husband worked.

When Handler married her husband, Elliot in 1938, it was a strange attraction of opposites that helped the two create the toy company, Mattel. The company may have been named for Elliot Handler and his and Ruth’s then partner, Harold “Matt” Matson (Matson would later be bought out and leave the company.), but there was no doubt who was the real head. Elliot was the laid-back easygoing creator of such toys as the Uke-A-Doodle and the Burp Gun while Ruth was the strong-willed forceful executive who made sure not only that the toys were made, but that they were made right.

Many are familiar with the story of Barbie's creation but for those that aren't here it is: Observing her daughter, Barbara and her friends play with paper dolls, Handler noted that the clothes “did not look right.” Observing that most dolls looked like children, including the ones marketed as teenage dolls, Handler saw that girls ,like her daughter, would pretend to play as though the dolls were adults. She thought it would be interesting if there was a doll that actually looked like an adult.

In 1956, the Handlers visited Germany and Handler saw her inspiration: a hard plastic doll that was adult in appearance called Bild Lilli. Bild Lilli was originally an adult sex toy based on a comic book character and was often given as a gag gift at bachelor parties. Despite her lascivious reputation, Handler was transfixed by the doll’s blond hair tied in a ponytail, bendable body, and parade of wardrobe and accessories. She bought some of them and took them home to see if her designers could create an American version of the doll. (Royalty issues prevented Mattel's acknowledgement of Bild Lilli’s contribution to the creation of Barbie for some time, but they have since been cleared and Mattel acknowledged that Bild Lilli was indeed the inspiration for her American cousin.)

After some difficulties with the molding process and experiments with Barbie's makeup and initial wardrobe, the doll finally made her debut at the 1959 Toy Fair dressed in a black and white one-piece bathing suit.

Barbie at first received a lot of criticism because of her seeming sex appeal and that many parents did not want their daughters playing with such an adult doll. Toy Fair itself produced few orders for the doll. However Gerber’s writing showed Handler as a persistent marketer and executive and was not about to let her brainchild fail. She approved of a marketing campaign which focused on Barbie's glamor, beauty, and that when little girls played with Barbie they were imagining themselves as the women they wanted to become. (An early commercial contained a catchy jingle: “Someday I’m going to be like you, 'til then I know just what I’ll do…..Barbie, beautiful Barbie I’ll make believe I’m you.”) Girls became fascinated with the doll and persuaded their parents to not only buy her but her ever growing wardrobe and accessories.

The ‘60’s were a good time to be both Barbie and Ruth Handler. Gerber's book shows that Barbie's world expanded to include her anatomically incorrect boyfriend, Ken (apparently Handler wanted to make him more correct but concerned toy designers opted not to in case of controversy and Handler relented), her best friend, Midge, Midge’s boyfriend and later husband, Alan, Barbie's African-American friend, Christy, and  Barbie's sisters, Skipper and Tutti (the latter was eventually renamed as Kellie), and such additions as her Dream House and Car.

Handler's world at Mattel also increased. She and Elliot continued to make successful toys such as Hot Wheels, an intentional competitor to Matchbox. Handler also gained a reputation as a tough and loving boss.

She had a regular group of young men whom she called “her boys” and enjoyed bantering with. Mattel was also known to promote female executives more so than many other companies at the time.

Handler also could be quite domineering. She had a very strong attention to detail and was concerned about producing the best products under the Mattel name. She was known to order the recall of an entire line if the product did not meet her specifications. She also loved to be involved in every aspect of her company including research, development, design, accounts and others. She also could be argumentative and resort to snappy rejoinders when male executives did not want to work with a woman.

These details run counter to Handler’s behavior during her later charges of fraud in the late ‘70’s. The Handlers made some bad investments including trying to purchase Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus and brought on some unscrupulous executives. One of them was Seymour Rosenberg, a previous financial genius, who was known for his business acquisitions. When Rosenberg was indicted for fraud, he also named The Handlers as complicit in his dealings.

While Gerber stops short of whether she believed Handler's guilt or innocence, she does raise questions whether an executive with a strong attention to detail, desire to be involved in every aspect of her company, and was able to challenge male executives would suddenly not be aware of Rosenberg's mismanagement of funds and kowtow to him because he insulted her for being a Jewish woman.

Despite maintaining her innocence, Handler resigned from the company that she created in 1978 and was sentenced to community service. (which she used to co-create a charity, Foundation for the People reinventing herself as a philanthropist.)

While Elliot, Rosenberg, and other male executives at Mattel were also charged with fraud, Handler cited sexism as part of the reason the media was particularly tough on her ridiculing her abrasive behavior and downfall.

While Handler may have been grasping at straws or assuming a martyr complex, the fact that many male executives particularly in the ‘80’s were lauded as corporate sharks and praised for their domineering nature invites this possibility. Lucky for the Reader, Gerber offers no opinion either way and allows the Reader to decide for themselves whether Handler was a white collar criminal or was an innocent victim railroaded by dishonest colleagues and a misogynistic press.

Besides her legal issues, the book also reveals Handler's family troubles particularly with her children, Barbara and Kenneth. (the dolls Barbie and Ken were both named for them.) The Handler children hated being associated with the dolls. Barbara had many disagreements with her mother while growing up and got into heated arguments with her wondering why she didn't stay home like other mothers. Barbara rebelled against Handler's working mother status by marrying young right out of high school and having children. She remained estranged from Handler until only a few years before Handler's death.

Kenneth had an equally difficult time growing up. He rejected his parent's wealth from Mattel particularly Barbie because he believed that they “created a forced conformity within children.” He later became a playwright, photographer, and artist. Like his sister, Kenneth married young but was bisexual and had affairs with men. Ultimately, he died of AIDS in 1994. Because of Handler's unwillingness to acknowledge her son’s sexuality or disease, Gerber’s book says that to this day different accounts  report various erroneous causes of Kenneth Handler's death such as encephalitis or a brain tumor. Handler's difficulties with her children showed that sometimes people who are successful in one way can falter in others and despite having good intentions by honoring her children with the dolls’ names, Handler ultimately caused distrust and unhappiness within them.

Handler had difficulties with her health as well which unfortunately coincided with her trial for fraud. She had breast cancer and received a mastectomy. Eventually she marketed prosthetic breasts called Nearly Me for women who were going through similar procedures proving once again that Handler was able to reinvent herself despite tough times.

Despite leaving the company, Handler’s reputation improved in the ‘90’s when Mattel's then CEO, Jill Barad paid tribute to Handler and her influence. Barad put Handler front and center once more as an honorary member of the company she helped create, allowing Handler to give interviews and receive accolades until her death in 2002.

Ruth Handler was a brilliant strong-willed independent woman who took an idea of an adult fashion doll and made it a success. Barbie may be a fascinating character but not nearly as much as the woman who has been referred to as “her Mom.”