Download or read book Forever Barbie written by M. G. Lord and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Far from a toy designed by men to enslave women, Barbie was a toy invented by women for women to teach them what - for better or worse - was expected of them. Controversial cultural critic and investigative journalist M. G. Lord, herself a first-generation Barbie owner, positions the doll as an international marketing phenomenon, an early model of female independence, and a space-age recasting of a Neolithic fertility icon that empowers little girls through its links to a matriarchal, pre-Christian tradition. Lord has sleuthed out Barbie's sordid origins - she was modeled on a sleazy German doll originally sold as a gag gift for men - and debriefed her creators. But Forever Barbie is more than just a corporate history. It is a story of mothers and daughters, men and women, and the way objects are used to teach sex-appropriate behaviors. It is about how we as Americans have defined ourselves, emulating an impossibly homogeneous "America" coded by immigrants and outsiders through movies and dolls. It is about ownership: Unlike Garbo, Marilyn, and Elvis, Barbie is an icon intended to be touched and possessed. And it is about passion: From the collectors who cherish her to the artists who mutilate her, nobody feels neutral.
Download or read book Forever Barbie The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll written by M.G. Lord and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2024-03-05 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barbie is a strong, independent doll. But is she a feminist icon? It’s complicated. Since her introduction in 1959, Barbie’s impact has been revolutionary. Far from being a toy designed by men to oppress women, she was a toy invented by women to teach women what was expected of them, for better or for worse. Whether tarred-and-glittered as antifeminist puffery or celebrated as a feminist icon (or, at any rate, an important cultural touchstone in understanding feminism) Barbie has undeniably influenced generations of girls. In Forever Barbie, cultural critic, investigative journalist, and first-generation Barbie owner M. G. Lord uncovers the surprising story behind Barbie’s smash success. Revealing her low origins as “Bild Lilli,” a risqué doll for adults sold as a gag gift in postwar Germany, Forever Barbie traces Barbie’s development and transformation, through countless makeovers and career changes, into an international pop culture icon and now “traditional toy.” Though not every doll in the line has been a hit—with pregnant Midge and Growing up Skipper among the more intriguing disasters—Barbie’s endurance, Lord writes, speaks as much to Mattel’s successful marketing as it does to our society’s overall ambivalence toward femininity. With new accessories, including a preface on the latest developments in the Barbieverse, Forever Barbie “will make you think of America’s most celebrated plastic doll in ways you never have before” (Susan Faludi).
Download or read book Forever Barbie written by M. G. Lord and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2004-03-01 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published: New York: William Morrow & Co, c1994.
Download or read book Forever Barbie written by M. G. Lord and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since Barbie's introduction in 1959, her impact on baby boomers has been revolutionary. Far from being a toy designed by men to enslave women, she was a toy invented by women to teach women what-- for better or worse-- was expected of them. In telling Barbie's fascinating story, cultural critic and investigative journalist M. G. Lord, herself a first-generation Barbie owner, has written a provocative, zany, occasionally shocking book that will change how you look at the doll and the world.
Download or read book The Accidental Feminist written by M. G. Lord and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2012-02-12 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Movie stars establish themselves as brands--and Taylor's brand , in its most memorable outings, has repeatedly introduced a broad audience to feminist ideas. In her breakout film, "National Velvet" (1944), Taylor's character challenges gender discrimination,: Forbidden as a girl to ride her beloved horse in an important race, she poses as a male jockey. Her next milestone, "A Place in the Sun" (1951), can be seen as an abortion rights movie--a cautionary tale from a time before women had ready access to birth control. In "Butterfield 8" (1960), for which she won an Oscar, Taylor isn't censured because she's a prostitute, but because she chooses the men: she controls her sexuality, a core tenet of the third-wave feminism that emerged in the 1990s. Even "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966) depicts the anguish that befalls a woman when the only way she can express herself is through her husband's stalled career and children. The legendary actress has lived her life defiantly in public--undermining post-war reactionary sex roles, helping directors thwart the Hollywood Production Code, which censored film content between 1934 and 1967. Defying death threats she spearheaded fundraising for AIDS research in the first years of the epidemic, and has championed the rights of people to love whom they love, regardless of gender. Yet her powerful feminist impact has been hidden in plain sight. Drawing on unpublished letters and scripts as well as interviews with Kate Burton, Gore Vidal, Austin Pendleton, Kevin McCarthy, Liz Smith, and others, The Accidental Feminist will surprise Taylor and film fans with its originality and will add a startling dimension to the star's enduring mystique.
Download or read book Barbie s Queer Accessories written by Erica Rand and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the history of the Barbie doll and at the cultural reappropriations of Barbie by artists, collectors and especially lesbians and gay men.
Download or read book Astro Turf written by M. G. Lord and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A daughter's journey to rediscover her father and understand the culture of space engineers During the late 1960s, while M. G. Lord was becoming a teenager in Southern California and her mother was dying of cancer, Lord's father-an archetypal, remote, rocket engineer- disappeared into his work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, building the space probes of the Mariner Mars 69 mission. Thirty years later, Lord found herself reporting on the JPL, triggering childhood memories and a desire to revisit her past as a way of understanding the ethos of rocket science. Astro Turf is the brilliant result of her journey of discovery. Remembering her pain at her father's absence, yet intrigued by what he did, Lord captures him on the page as she recalls her own youthful, eccentric fascination with science and space exploration. Into her family's saga she weaves the story of the legendary JPL- examining the complexities of its cultural history, from its start in 1936 to the triumphant Mars landings in 2004. She illuminates its founder, Frank Malina, whose brilliance in rocketry was shadowed by a flirtation with communism, driving him from the country even as we welcomed Wernher von Braun and his Nazi colleagues. Lord's own love of science fiction becomes a lens through which she views a profound cultural shift in the male-dominated world of space. And in pursuing the cause of her father's absence she stumbles on a hidden guilt, understanding "the anguish his proud silence caused both him and me, and how rooted that silence was in the culture of engineering."
Download or read book Dream Doll written by Ruth Handler and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author recounts how she and her husband founded the Mattel Toy company, discusses her bout with breast cancer, and describes the breast prosthesis company she subsequently started
Download or read book Toy Monster written by Jerry Oppenheimer and published by Wiley + ORM. This book was released on 2009-02-17 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An eye-popping, unauthorized exposé of the House of Barbie from the New York Times–bestselling author of The Kardashians and Crazy Rich. From Boise to Beijing, Mattel’s toys dominate the universe. Its no fun-and-games marketing muscle reaches some 140 countries, and its iconic products have been a part of our culture for generations. Now, in this intriguing and entertaining exposé, New York Times–bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer places the world’s largest toy company under a journalistic microscope, uncovering the dark side of toy land, and exploring Mattel’s oddball corporate culture and eccentric, often bizarre, cast of characters. Based on exclusive interviews and an exhaustive review of public and private records, Toy Monster exposes Mattel’s take-no-prisoners, shark-infested corporate style. Throughout this scrupulously reported, unauthorized portrait, you’ll discover how dangerous toys are actually nothing new to Mattel, and why its fearsomely litigious approach within the brutal toy business has helped their products dominate potential rivals such as Bratz. Engaging and accessible, Toy Monster shows you why today’s toy business isn’t always fun and games. “Oppenheimer . . . has now trained his sights on the world’s biggest toy company—its egos, scandals and flawed products. In his toyland, nothing is cute.” —The Wall Street Journal “Oppenheimer takes a tour of Mattel’s seamier side, highlighting its dubious corporate practices and kooky cast in this scathing portrait . . . Fast-paced and engaging, this exposé will absorb readers until the last page and will forever change the way they think about the company.” —Publishers Weekly “Thoroughly researched, beautifully written, Oppenheimer’s opus contains all the intrigue and drama of an epic novel.” —C. David Heymann, New York Times–bestselling author
Download or read book Made to Play House written by Miriam Formanek-Brunell and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1998-11-30 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Made to Play House, Miriam Formanek-Brunell traces the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century dolls and explores the origins of the American toy industry's remarkably successful efforts to promote self fulfillment through maternity and materialism. She tells the fascinating story of how inventors, producers, entrepreneurs—many of whom were women—and little girls themselves created dolls which expressed various notions of female identity.
Download or read book Blonde Like Me written by Natalia Ilyin and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2000-02-22 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In essence, she shows us the difference between simply having blonde hair and being a blonde."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book The Complete Unauthorized Guide to Vintage Barbie Dolls written by Hillary James and published by Schiffer Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A complete listing of Barbie, her friends, and their fashions and accessories from the vintage years of 1959-1972, illustrated with over 275 beautiful color photos. Displayed along with Barbie is her sister Skipper*R, introduced in 1964, are their friends, relations, and pets, including Ken*R, Midge*R, Allan*R, Francie*R, Scooter*R, and all the rest. Values are included in detailed listings for each doll and every accessory.
Download or read book You Don t Own Me written by Orly Lobel and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The battle between Mattel, the makers of the iconic Barbie doll, and MGA, the company that created the Bratz dolls, was not just a war over best-selling toys, but a war over who owns ideas. When Carter Bryant began designing what would become the billion-dollar line of Bratz dolls, he was taking time off from his job at Mattel, where he designed outfits for Barbie. Later, back at Mattel, he sold his concept for Bratz to rival company MGA. Law professor Orly Lobel reveals the colorful story behind the ensuing decade-long court battle. This entertaining and provocative work pits audacious MGA against behemoth Mattel, shows how an idea turns into a product, and explores the two different versions of womanhood, represented by traditional all-American Barbie and her defiant, anti-establishment rival—the only doll to come close to outselling her. In an era when workers may be asked to sign contracts granting their employers the rights to and income resulting from their ideas—whether conceived during work hours or on their own time—Lobel’s deeply researched story is a riveting and thought-provoking contribution to the contentious debate over creativity and intellectual property.
Download or read book Norco 80 written by Peter Houlahan and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2019-06-11 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 5 young men. 32 destroyed police vehicles. 1 spectacular bank robbery. This “cinematic” true crime story transports readers to the scene of one of the most shocking bank heists in U.S. history—a crime that’s almost too wild to be real (The New York Times Book Review). Norco ’80 tells the story of how five heavily armed young men—led by an apocalyptic born–again Christian—attempted a bank robbery that turned into one of the most violent criminal events in U.S. history, forever changing the face of American law enforcement. Part action thriller and part courtroom drama, this Edgar Award finalist for Best Fact Crime transports the reader back to the Southern California of the 1970s, an era of predatory evangelical gurus, doomsday predictions, megachurches, and soaring crime rates, with the threat of nuclear obliteration looming over it all. In this riveting true story, a group of landscapers transforms into a murderous gang of bank robbers armed to the teeth with military–grade weapons. Their desperate getaway turns the surrounding towns into war zones. And when it’s over, three are dead and close to twenty wounded; a police helicopter has been forced down from the sky, and thirty–two police vehicles have been completely demolished by thousands of rounds of ammo. The resulting trial shakes the community to the core, raising many issues that continue to plague society today: from the epidemic of post–traumatic stress disorder within law enforcement to religious extremism and the militarization of local police forces.
Download or read book Lives of the Monster Dogs written by Kirsten Bakis and published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. This book was released on 2017-05-09 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a race of elegant, superintelligent dogs arrives in twenty-first-century New York, they become instant celebrities, but, unable to adjust to the modern world and confronted with an incurable disease, they construct a fantastic castle and barricade themselves inside.
Download or read book The Funeral Party written by Ludmila Ulitskaya and published by Schocken. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: August 1991. In a sweltering New York City apartment, a group of Russian émigrés gathers round the deathbed of an artist named Alik, a charismatic character beloved by them all, especially the women who take turns nursing him as he fades from this world. Their reminiscences of the dying man and of their lives in Russia are punctuated by debates and squabbles: Whom did Alik love most? Should he be baptized before he dies, as his alcoholic wife, Nina, desperately wishes, or be reconciled to the faith of his birth by a rabbi who happens to be on hand? And what will be the meaning for them of the Yeltsin putsch, which is happening across the world in their long-lost Moscow but also right before their eyes on CNN? This marvelous group of individuals inhabits the first novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya to be published in English, a book that was shortlisted for the Russian Booker Prize and has been praised wherever translated editions have appeared. Simultaneously funny and sad, lyrical in its Russian sorrow and devastatingly keen in its observation of character, The Funeral Party introduces to our shores a wonderful writer who captures, wryly and tenderly, our complex thoughts and emotions confronting life and death, love and loss, homeland and exile.
Download or read book Philistines at the Hedgerow written by Steven Gaines and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bestselling author Steven Gaines's "richly entertaining" (People) and juicy social history of the Hamptons. As one of America's most fabled communities--long a magnet for artists, celebrities, the very rich, and their respective hangers-on--the Hamptons have been a scene of constant collision among the established old guard, New Money, and the local families who farmed and fished the region for generations. In serving up three centuries of Hamptons history, Steven Gaines introduces a host of colorful characters including Jackson Pollock, Ron Perelman, Lauren Bacall, and the Bouvier Beales of Grey Gardens infamy. Philistines at the Hedgerow is a mesmerizing feat of storytelling--a book that takes us behind the privet hedges and rolling sand dunes and brings vivid life to the curious passions and personalities that animate the Hamptons.
