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Cross states Barbie was actually invented by a woman, Ruth Handler, which contradicts Praeger's assertion that Barbie was designed by a man named Jack Ryan. This may have something to do with the different focuses of these essays: Praeger implies that Barbie's appearance and "image" could have been the result of a male fantasy; Cross suggests that Barbie, invented by a woman, has had much to do, since her initial appearance in the 1960's, with teaching young girls how to shop (first for Barbie and later for possessions in real life) for clothes, accessories, etc. As Cross states: If Barbie taught that freedom meant consumption, the Barbie line was designed to maximize parents' real spending. Playing consumer meant that Barbie have a constantly changing wardrobe of coordinated clothing and accessories" (771). As a consumer item in her own right, Barbie soon acquired doll friends like "Midge," and a younger doll sister, "Skipper," who also needed to be clothed and accessorized (Cross, 770-71). In essence, "Mattel tapped into a young girl's fantasy to create a demand for possessions" (772).
GI Joe, suggests Cross, was the 1960's Barbie equivalent for boys, and like Barbie (although not now) began as a dress-up doll: "He represented the average soldier, evoking memories of fathers' experience in World War II and the Korean War" (773). Moreover, "G.I. Joe's success was based on a boy's identity with the all-male worked of heroic action aided by modern military equipment and gadgetry. The play was conventional, featuring male bonding in adventure." Unlike Barbie, however, G.I. Joe has not stood the test of time, or reinvented himself nearly as successfully. Cross describes how, in the 1970's, with the unpopularity of the Vietnam war, G.I. Joe also became less popular. Today, while Barbie remains remarkable similar to the 1960's original, G.I. Joe has been transformed into a high tech hero named "Super Joe," sporting "lasers and rocket command vehicles" (774) instead of guns, combat boots, and fatigues.
Both essays describe the impact of these children's dolls on society, but Praeger's essay, "Our Barbies, Ourselves," does so more from the perspective of how play with Barbie impacts a girl's self-image and her future role as a consumer. Cross's essay is more focused on Barbie and G.I. Joe as consumer objects in and of themselves; how the dolls reflect(ed) and are (or were) reflective of the changing times, and how and why one (Barbie) as survived and withstood the test of time better than the other (G.I. Joe). Both readings, however, cover the impact of children's dolls like Barbie and G.I. Joe as important cultural icons.
