Ruth developed breast cancer in 1970, which led to the creation of her next enterprise, Nearly Me. She saw her prosthetic breasts as a way to help millions of breast cancer survivors. What did you think about her coming full circle in terms of her relationship with creating breasts for a doll for little girls and then creating breasts for grown women?
I have a lot of respect for Ruth for helping to develop Nearly Me. She provided a real service for women going through what she went through.
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I think in both cases Ruth contributed to potentially helping girls and then women feel confident in their choices and in their own body image, respectively.
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This part of the story was surprising for me. I had no idea Ruth had gone onto to helping to develop Nearly Me. It was a wonderful mission, that unless Ruth had all of her knowledge and insights, would probably not have been done till much later.
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I hadn’t known about Nearly Me. Being able to use what she learned from creating Barbie must have given Ruth new meaning to her life and to her life’s work.
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I didn’t know about Ruth Handler’s breast cancer or the Nearly Me company she created. That was a twist in the narrative that really surprised me.
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I would also say that seeing her succeed at both developing a different kind of doll and breasts for grown women shows how talented and determined she was. It seems that she would have succeeded at whatever she set her mind to.
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I think it was natural for Ruth to create Nearly Me. She saw a need and knew that she could create something to solve it. She was very talented.
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I was very surprised that Ruth created Nearly Me. I have a lot of respect for her and her drive. Her creation has helped so many women with breast cancer. Overall she changed the course for women from Barbie to bras