In twentieth century America while young boys learned construction with Lincoln Logs, little girls instinctively cuddled a Raggedy Ann. Even today Raggedy Anns red yarn hair, patched pinafore and button eyes offer images of another era as she celebrates her 90th birthday in museums and private collections.
But in 1958 Barbie was born. All grown up and designed with fantasy. This was no rag doll. Barbies hair was real and brush-able; her wardrobe generous and trendy. The Barbie figure was to become the ultimate achievement of the perfect body. Playing with Barbie during formative years, young girls have acted out all of their dreams.
The new millennium brought new images for females. Lifestyle issues changed the way the media influenced the female psyche and redefined some old messages about life, love and growing pains. Stay sweet changed to Be strong. Find the right man changed to Get your degree. Careers in nursing were discouraged as parents pushed for Computer Science.
While professional women are up from 48% in 1993 to 50% today, they still hit a glass ceiling when it comes to the corporate pay scale. Some would blame it on the more...