Barbara Millicent Roberts: The Evolution Of The Barbie Doll

Barbara Millicent Roberts, or the Barbie doll, is changing, along with the American beauty ideals. We all know the Barbie as the tall, blond, and voluptuous plastic doll. But, she is changing. The barbie is new and, to some, improved. The creators of Barbie, Mattel, have created three new Barbies; petite, tall, and curvy. Some people are enraged about this change, while others are enthused about it. I for one am ecstatic about this change. Barbie has been making Mattel money for years. It has become a symbol of “American Beauty”. According to Time magazine, in America approximately 92% girls, aged 3-12, have owned at least on Barbie. Barbie has been making approximately $1 billion in sales annually across over 150 countries. This is(was)

Barbie has never been married or pregnant. Her first career was when she was 17. She was a fashion model. She has even been banned from Saudi Arabia. I am glad about her change. She was originally designed to “teach women what is expected of them in society”. This is dumb. The way the Barbie doll was designed gives women and children unrealistic idealistic body image goals. Nobody can, without surgical procedure, look like a barbie doll. Valeria Lukyanova is known as the living Barbie doll. She has had breast implant surgery to make her look more like one. She says that her breast enhancement surgery is her only one. This means that not even she lived up to the expectations. I believe that these Barbies are a great addition to the Barbie family. They help a lot of the people who do not look like the traditional Barbies feel better about who they are. I personally am not the shape of a Barbie and have always been sort of upset about this. I always looked up to her and wanted to look at her. Now, I do. I fit the shape of the curvy Barbie now. This makes me feel a lot better about how I see myself. The new Barbies are a great idea. They help to intertwine all body shapes and skin