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    The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us
    Unavailable
    The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us
    Unavailable
    The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us
    Audiobook3 hours

    The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us

    Written by Tanya Lee Stone

    Narrated by Stina Nielsen

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In the prologue, Meg Cabot describes her desire for a Barbie and her mother's reluctance to purchase one, basically summing up the conflict surrounding the doll since its introduction in 1959. Listeners learn about Mattel Toys and the background behind Barbie's concept and development, how it was a solution for girls who wanted to imagine adult roles rather than just play mother, and details about inventor Ruth Handler. But more than that, Stone reveals the pathos behind so many relationships of girls with Barbie: those who cherished her and those who were negatively influenced. Was she a destructive role model or just a toy? Experts disagree. In this balanced overview, both sides of the quandary are addressed. Barbie's different roles, graduating from nurse to surgeon, stewardess to pilot, and always a woman of her own means, reflect societal changes over the past 50 years as well
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateDec 13, 2013
    ISBN9781490604091
    Unavailable
    The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us
    Author

    Tanya Lee Stone

    Tanya Lee Stone has written several books for young readers, including the young adult novel A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl. She lives with her family in Vermont.

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    Reviews for The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie

    3.5/5

    52 ratings11 reviews

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    • 3/5
      The most intriguing history of the doll was her founder, Ruth Handler, and what a progressive, driven woman she was for her time. I wasn't so interested in the pros and cons of Barbie's impact on girls' and women's psyche, but did appreciate the arguments that Barbie helped girls fantasize about different life options.
    • 5/5
      An unbiased book about Barbie and her many influences on society and women. This book delves into the history of Barbie and her creator, Ruth Handler. The author does a wonderful job with displaying all aspects of Barbie and the impact she has left on society.
    • 3/5
      3Q 3P. When I stumbled across this book I was highly intrigued because not only had I owned Barbie dolls as a child but in my adulthood I had also run across student organizations that promote beauty and use the life-size configuration of Barbie to show how impossible emulation of her would be. The book definitely gives a rich background in Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, and how the doll came about. The remainder of the book discusses the transformation of Barbie over time and the different reactions that the doll has on the psyche of young girls and their parents. It was an interesting read but doesn't delve deep enough into either argument for me to have been satisfied. For a young adult novel I guess it would suffice, but I feel that the two different sides that are warring over this doll should have been more clear and focused and had more of a solid foundation. Even though it appeared that the author was trying to stay on neutral ground without picking one side over the other, there still should have been an investigation into evidence for either argument. Overall, I thought it was a fast, fun read but not a book crucial to teenage girls or teens in general.
    • 5/5
      An exceptionally well-written look at how Barbie dolls have reflected cultural and fashion sensibilities over the years. There is a balanced look between people who claim Barbie reinforces and promotes negative stereotypes and unhealthy attitudes about body image and consumerism, and those who see positive influences the dolls promote. The chapter discussing the inventive ways Barbies are used to enact sexual and torture scenarios are highly entertaining!
    • 4/5
      Stone explores Barbie's history and her impact on culture. She does a good job of presenting all sides of the issue, with quotes from people who love Barbie and people who hate her.Maybe this book would have resonated with me more if I had been more of a Barbie fan (or detractor) since childhood. As it was, I had Barbies, certainly, and played with them, but I never aspired to be like Barbie (either physically or in terms of the perfect life story that Mattel created for her). Barbie was just another toy to me. I would certainly recommend this book, though, especially to people who are interested in the Barbie phenomenon.
    • 4/5
      6th to 12th grade. The nonfiction book The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone faithfully represents a diversity of feelings about Barbie and provides a feast for thought. From the quotes on the endpapers to the last sentence of "A Note from the Author," Stone tries to incorporate a well-rounded (as opposed to narrow waisted and big busted) perspective on Barbie throughout nine chapters. For example one bolded quote separated from the text in the Prologue reads "Barbie has been the #1 most destructive force on the self-image of women all over the globe!" (Dr. Carole Lieberman, psychiatrist). But another bolded quote in the Prologue is "Barbie has always represented the fact that a woman has choices" (Ruth Handler, creator). Her nine chapters cover topics such as the history of Barbie, its impact on our culture, and turning Barbie into art. Her style of writing is stimulating without being difficult and so can be enjoyed by middle schoolers and up. Also, because the text is broken up by subsections, bolded quotes, and informational boxes, the book can be scanned as well as read. Interestingly by being 10 by 7 1/2 inches, the book is close to magazine size and so appeals to the teen fashion magazine market. There is also a life sized photo of Barbie because of this size, and then many black and white photos of Barbies past and present, and 6 color photos toward the back. This book is highly recommended to public, middle, and high school libraries and is a great book to put face out on display. Readers will be fascinated by Barbie's history, how she's changed over the years, and gone from being turned into art to being put in a rotisserie oven.
    • 3/5
      This non-fiction book provides the history of the Barbie doll along with a short biography of the creator, and the opinions of those who favor the Barbie and those who disapprove of her. Barbie has been viewed by the public as an oversexed, disproportionate female doll that cause body issues for women because they could never live up to that kind of expectation. Others have interpreted Barbie as a role model or feminist because of her numerous careers she has had in her lifetime such as Barbie for President or Army Barbie. For some, Barbie makes a statement to girls that they can be whatever they want to be. The author uses real interviews to justify both sides of the never-ending Barbie debate. The book also contains several photographs of Barbie throughout the years as well as real-life people who have body-image issues. The book uses some mature vocabulary and themes, therefore, more appropriate for young adult. The work, however, is reliable and the author provides source notes and bibliographical information. At the end of the book, the reader does not know what side to choose because both sides are represented so they may not be better informed than when they began. Additional Reading.
    • 4/5
      There are usually multiple sides to any story of a cultural icon, but it seems that there are only two for Barbie: you either love her or hate her. Not much in between, according to the research and emails Tanya Lee Stone used to write this book! In telling the story of Barbie, Stone also tells the story of Ruth Handler, one of the founders of Mattel Toys. In the early 1950's, she noticed that girls quit playing with baby dolls in favor of grownup styled paper dolls with clothes and accessories. It gave her the idea for a different kind of doll, and that idea became Barbie. The doll was introduced at the 1959 New York Toy Fair... and it was a complete failure there. A few months later though, when school let out for the summer, the dolls sold like crazy as they have ever since. The original Barbies had clothes designed to mimic high fashion, and Mattel soon developed all kinds of accessories and collectibles to go with the dolls: fashion, friends, family, cars, and houses . Barbie evolved: dolls with a variety of skin tones and hair colors, play sets for different jobs (stewardess, pilot, astronaut, veterinarian...), and a line of international-themed Barbies with traditional costumes from around the world. Not everything evolved, though. Barbie's "ultimate blonde" reputation was unshakeable, and some see her as a disturbing model for girls. Others take the view of "it's just a toy - relax." Either way, Barbie has lasted for over 50 years, and is still going strong. Balanced viewpoints and detailed research into the history: and like the title says, it's the good, the bad, and the Barbie. Excellent writing, photography, and design! 6th grade and up.
    • 4/5
      Don't laugh - I played with Barbies as a girl, so this book just caught my eye. I actually enjoyed it. It's a short, quick read about the history and controversy surrounding this popular American icon. The author does this in a humorous way, giving both sides of the story. It's a fair treatment in a readable, enjoyable little book.
    • 4/5
      A really enjoyable look at not only Barbie as a cultural icon, but also at the founders and founding of the Mattel Company. It is amazing the number of different reactions the Barbie doll can illicit in people. The book does a very fair job of presenting these without judgment.
    • 4/5
      Tanya Lee Stone presents a remarkably balanced history of the Barbie Doll, incorporating tons of research and quotes from people of all types about their experiences. Love her or hate her, if you want to know anything about her, this is a great book to read. Source notes, index, author's note, photos, quotes.... it's all here!