Is Barbie just a pretty doll?

Baby dolls were closer to tools for practicing the role of a mother. But Barbara, the daughter of Ruth Handler, who ran the toy company Mattel, played at being a grown-up with paper dolls. She gave her dolls adult roles and jobs and tried out other people's days.

Ruth thought her daughter needed not practice at being a mother but a doll shaped like the adult she wanted to become. She named the new doll Barbie, after her daughter.

The first Barbie appeared at the 1959 New York Toy Fair. It was a doll with an adult figure, wearing a striped swimsuit. To eyes used to baby dolls it looked unfamiliar, but children chose Barbie. In the first year alone, 300,000 were sold.

Barbie came to have countless outfits, cars, houses, and even a pool. It was a time when it was hard for a woman to buy a house or get a credit card in her own name. In play, children got to own property and hold rights first.

Barbie became an astronaut in 1965, a doctor in 1973, and a presidential candidate in 1992. All were roles where women were still rare. Children dreamed of future careers instead of the role of a mother.

Barbie has sold more than 1 billion dolls in about 150 countries. Andy Warhol painted Barbie, and collectors appeared who collected only Barbie. "Like a Barbie doll" became one of the highest compliments.

Today's Barbie comes in many ethnicities and body types. There is a Barbie who uses a wheelchair and a Barbie with Down syndrome. It says that who you are, just as you are, is beautiful and has value.

Worth adding: Barbie's body types grew in number in 2016. Tall, petite, and curvy bodies were added then.

Barbie went beyond being the best-selling doll; her name alone became a symbol of beauty,
and as children pictured future jobs and dreams, she helped them grow into independent women.