"We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back and see how far they have come."
- Ruth Handler
Family
"You don't need my permission. I can't control you any more than I could control my own daughter. Us mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they've come."
- Ruth Handler
Empowerment
"By giving voice to the cognitive dissonance required to be a woman under the patriarchy, you robbed it of its power."
- Barbie
Courage
"It is literally impossible to be a woman."
- Gloria
Adversity
"Humans only have one ending. Ideas live forever."
- Ruth Handler
Wisdom
"I’m just so damn tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie ourselves in knots so that people will like us."
- Gloria
Compassion
"I'm not really sure where I belong anymore. I want to be the creator, not the creation."
- Barbie
Personal Growth
"The real world isn’t what I thought it was."
- Barbie
Awareness
"You are so beautiful and so smart and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough."
- Gloria
Self-esteem
"We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back to see how far they have come."
- Ruth
Family
"I want to be part of the people that make meaning, not the thing that’s made. I want to be the one imagining, not the idea itself."
- Barbie
Creativity
"We have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong."
- Gloria
Ambition
"I want to be a part of the people that make meaning, not the thing that is made."
- Barbie
Creativity
"You're beautiful."
- Stereotypical Barbie
Self-esteem
"I know."
- The Woman on the Bench
Self-esteem
"The real world is forever and irrevocably messed up."
- Barbie
Awareness
"That's life. It's all change."
- Gloria
Change
"It’s okay if you’re crying. I cried too. It’s kind of amazing."
- Barbie
Compassion
"Every night is girls night."
- Barbie
Connection to Earth
"Even if you can’t make it perfect, you can make it better."
- Sasha
Personal Growth
"It’s literally impossible to be women!"
- Gloria
Adversity
"You can tell them you’ve never seen The Godfather, and they’ll love to explain it to you."
- Barbie
Empowerment
"Do you guys ever think about dying?"
- Barbie
Facing Fears
"Every night is girls' night."
- Barbie
Connection to Earth
"Ideas live forever, humans, not so much. You know that right?"
- Ruth
Wisdom
"I would never wear heels if my feet were shaped like this."
- Barbie
Self-awareness
"Shredding waves is much more dangerous than people realize."
- Ken
Courage
"You've been making women feel bad about themselves since you were invented."
- Sasha
Awareness
"We have to always be extraordinary but somehow we’re always doing it wrong."
- Gloria
Ambition
"Either you’re brainwashed or you’re weird."
- Barbie
Awareness
"Don’t blame me, blame Mattel. I don’t care."
- Weird Barbie
Empowerment
"I just don’t know who I am without you."
- Ken
Relationships
"I would never wear heels if my feet were shaped like this!"
- Barbie
Empowerment
"Men look at me like I’m an object, girls hate me."
- Barbie
Adversity
"I’m a man with no power, does that make me a woman?"
- Aaron Dinkins
Connection to Earth
"Oh, my God! I had a Weird Barbie!"
- Gloria
Nature
"Barbie in the real world? That’s impossible."
- Gloria
Adaptation
"Please call me Mother."
- Matell CEO
Leadership
"Because Barbie can be anything, women can be anything."
Empowerment
"It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong."
Adversity
"You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin."
Aspirations
"You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It's too hard! It's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you!"
Adversity
"All of these women are Barbie, and Barbie is all of these women. She might have started out as just a lady in a bathing suit, but she became so much more."
Growth
"You’re supposed to stay pretty for men but not so pretty you tempt them too much or you threaten other women. Because you’re supposed to be part of the sisterhood but always stand out."
Aspirations
"Thanks to Barbie, all problems of feminism have been solved."
Philosophy
"No one rests until this doll is back in the box."
Motivation