• Created the BARBIE & KEN dolls
• Before Barbie, girls had only two choices when it came to dolls: paper dolls, or babies
• Her husband was one of the cofounders of Mattel, and it is the Mattel engineers and technicians who actually hold the patent to Barbie
• Ruth served as Mattel's executive vice president, president, and cochairman of the board, a rarity in the 1960s male-dominated world of business
• She was invited to speak at many events, including one investment seminar where she was forced to sneak in because it was held at a men's only club
• Became director of the Federal Reserve, a member of the National Business Council for Consumer Affairs, and a guest professor at multiple universities
• After having both of her breasts removed due to breast cancer, she invented the Nearly Me breast prosthesis
• Barbie and Ken are named after her two children
• Today the Barbie brand is a multi-billion dollar business, sold in over 100 countries

Open for Debate

Barbie has become a much vilified symbol of the unrealistic beauty expectations placed on women -- especially women of color. However, it has also been lauded as expanding the role of women. By dressing Barbie in sophisticated, stylish outfits ranging from business suits to traditional garments from around the world, it enabled young girls to imagine themselves as something other than a mother.

Bibliography: Vare, Ethlie Ann and Greg Ptacek. Patently Female. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002. Print.

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