igure that she had been trying to capture for years, but was told couldnt be done (Lord 29). The doll was so important to her that when the men at the company told Mrs. Handler that the doll was too feminine to be made in the United States, she decided to begin construction somewhere else in the world. It was a year later, in 1957, when an electronic engineer finally took the Lilli doll to be redesigned in Japan (Lord 30). These important events helped to finally establish Ruth Handlers place in the doll world (Tosa 29). Named after Ruths own daughter, the dolls name was Barbara Joyce, or Barbie for short, and her much anticipated debut finally came in March of 1959 at New York Citys American Toy Fair (Tosa 30).Barbies success relied heavily on how well her image matched market expectations and fashion trends for kids and adults (Hein 4). In the eye of the parents, she was a great toy (Hein 4). Barbie sent out positive images and sound virtue. She wore a seatbelt, became an astronaut, and ran for President (Hein 6), giving young girls dreams to strive for. Barbie also proved to be a very versatile doll as well. She was everything from a doctor to a firefighter, a paleontologist, and an athlete (Hein 9-10). Not only was Barbie smart, levelheaded, and sophisticated, but for the kids, she was just plain fun. She had a wide array of clothes and accessories, which allowed childrens imaginations to run wild all over the world (Hein 5). For the older generation, she was called a teen-age fashion model, and a new kind of doll from real life (Tosa 30). Through the decades as trends changed, so did Barbie. When the fashion magazines started showing girls with tattoos and bellybutton rings, Barbie started showing them too (Hein 10). Equality for all wasnt just a real life thing; it was also seen in the Mattel world. Barbie produced its first African American doll in 1968 (Hein 7). Shortly thereafter, Mattel released a Spanish-spea...
