A new book, “Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel”, talks about Barbie’s origins as a re-engineered version of the German Bild Lilli doll– once an adult novelty toy that was a spin-off from a popular newspaper cartoon series.

According to the New York Post, the book goes on to reveal that Barbie designer Jack Ryan led a “seventies-style swinger” lifestyle, with a penchant for orgies and sex workers from “high-class call girls to streetwalkers”.

Read more:
New York Post article
Telegraph article

Originally found this story via Violet Blue, who also shared the best Barbie video I’ve ever seen:

“Angst Barbie”

One observation:
When I first watched the video, I noted a sort of paradigm shift in my perception of mainstream beauty. My immediate thought was “Barbie looks a lot like the models and hot-body actresses and porn babies these days”– instead of the other way around. That’s pretty disturbing.