Plastic has its perks.
No wrinkles, no gray, no thickening around the waist or saggy booty or boobs. Barbie may be turning 50 next week, but she still looks as hot as the day she debuted in that black-and-white striped bathing suit.
She’s approaching the big 5-0 with the same joie de vivre as Madonna and Demi Moore. Who can blame her? She’s spent five decades living a high-flying life with a hundred different careers from astronaut to presidential candidate. She dumped her live-in boyfriend, Ken, after 43 years. She’s got no kids and ready to reinvent herself.
And, Mattel is putting a lot of faith in Barbie’s ability to rock a makeover. According to this Chicago Tribune report, the Barbie franchise saw a 21 percent drop in sales last year. She’s been squeezed by the rival (and hoochified) Bratz dolls on one side and the much more wholesome American Girl dolls on the other.
Is Barbie, for all the feminist angst her idealized looks and impossible measurements provoke, still relevant?
I think so. I remember my first (and only) Barbie. She was a gift from a relative visiting us in Texas from overseas. My Barbie was dressed in a silver cowgirl outfit and would wink when you pushed a button in her back. I was in grade school, and I loved her.
I thought about the possible objections when my daughter wanted the Mermaidia Barbie a few years back, but I realized there were bigger issues to tackle when it came to my daughter developing her own body image and self esteem.
The world’s most iconic doll will be trying reinvent herself to appeal to today’s young girls and their price-conscious parents. But we’re fascinated by Barbie’s glamazon past. Tell us about your favorite (or most scorned) Barbie doll. Have you or will you buy Barbies for your children?
And don’t forget to vote :
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Aisha covered education and breaking news for nearly ten years before joining the Lifestyle staff where she writes a "Dirty Laundry" parenting column. She is the home and family editor and wastes too much time on Facebook. Join the conversation on Twitter @AishaS. 
Barbie continues to be a genius toy, especially since girls like to imagine themselves grown up and Barbie helps them do that
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I have collected Barbie for yrs. I also belong to a Barbie club in Canada. We get together 5-6 times a yr.We used to meet every month but people are loosing interest. Most have stopped buying Barbies due to her new Looks. We don’t like her bigger face. I played with Barbie as a child & still do. Happy Birthday Barbie..
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I’m 10 years shy of being 50….I’ve always loved barbie…had the barbie townhouse and camper when I was a kid (made my dad put the townhouse together at midnight on christamas eve cause i couldn’t wait a second more to play with it, gave my pet hamsters a ride in the elevator too!) and have a few collectibles today…Including my favorite, Puerto Rican barbie sent to me by my uncle in Puerto Rico…so rock on Barbie…
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Some of my best memories are of playing Barbies with my sister and various friends while growing up in the 80’s. If I had any expendible income, I would probably collect them as well. My oldest daughter is 4 and we LOVE playing Barbies together. Mattel’s latest tactic to keep these toys alive is a growing collection of movies that are well written and feature beautiful landscapes. The characters in the movies are good role models in many ways. I am not worried about Barbie giving my daughter a poor body image because there is so much more to that lesson. If she is receiving healthy messages from everywhere else mostly from me, her mother, I doubt the dolls she plays with will be much of a factor. MOM is the biggest factor in body image, not Barbie.
To answer the question, my favorite as a child was Barbie from Barbie and the Rockers. My daughter’s favorite is Barbie as the Island Princess. The new Barbie movies are seriously worth checking out if you have young girls and pretty tolerable for the parents, as well.
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I think people need to quit reading so much into the “body image” that they think barbie will give to young girls. A postive image about yourself comes from a strong home and family life with positive role models, not a toy. I had barbies and so did all my friends growing up and none of us had or have any self image problems. People who have this need to look into themselves and their family life and leave the toy alone.
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I never allowed Barbie dolls in my house. I donot feel Barbie encourages a healthy body image of girls and women. If Barbie was actually human, she would not be able to walk, because of those tiny feet and top-heavy bosom.
Love Your Body! is the message I encourage.
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nothing wrong with Barbie, they are perfectly normal toys for little girls. My two had tons, I remember staying up late to build all those damn houses and other silly accessories on christmas. Just as long as your girls know that Barbie isn’t true beauty then its cool in my book.
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I was not allowed to have Barbie dolls when I was a kid because my mother didn’t want me playing with sexually mature dolls. I remember at the time kind of wondering why other kids had them and I didn’t, but I didn’t really fight it. My Mom never made it a big deal. We just didn’t have them. She also gave us other dolls that we could dress up and that was the allure of Barbie for me. I plan on trying to keep Barbie away from my daughter as well. There are plenty of appropriate dolls out there and there will be plenty of opportunities as my daughter grows up to be exposed to sex and unrealistic body images. Why start when she’s 4?
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