Project 1 Summary
How Barbie Relates To Suburbia



Barbie has been a part of suburbia for over 40 years and has changed along with suburbia and its ideas. Barbie began as every little girls dream of what the perfect woman should be. She had the cute boyfriend, the great looks, best cars and houses, along with anything else that she could get. These ideas had to change as women's roles began changing because mothers did not want their daughters to grow up to be superficial like Barbie was. They wanted their little girls to be doctors, lawyers, and have other professional careers, instead of just a housewife wasting away.
Barbie changed in a positive way beginning in the early seventies to conform with the increasing roles of women in America. Barbie was illustrated more as a professional-type woman with her own ideas. She came with business style suits along with evening gowns to show that she could be smart and pretty. These new product lines showed the suburban little girls that they could be businesswomen, too, and they could think for themselves without a man dictating them.
As you can see, Barbie became an artifact of suburbia through changing along with the ideals and views the suburban woman thought were important for their little girls to believe in.

Now go to the project itself on Barbie As An Artifact of Suburbia.

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