Barbie at Middle Age

On March 9, 2009, she will turn 50, with no escaping from middle-age, all the while maintaining a youthful appearance and fierce independence as a working woman. And even though, technically, she isn't a living and breathing person; Barbie has led an interesting and exciting life. 

Introduced at the 1959 Toy Fair, Barbie was a far cry from the dolls typically offered to girls of the era. Although exceedingly mature in appearance, the doll was meant to represent a seventeen-year old “fashion model.” For those of us who remember the debut, it was as if a door had been opened, allowing us to do more with a doll than change pretend-diapers and feed pretend-bottles. 

It was a daring departure, and a point that is often missed by latter-day critics. Over the years, the doll has been blamed for low self-esteem in girls, eating disorders and a host of other problems. Her impossible-to-achieve figure and perfect plastic features seem to represent an ideal that can never be achieved. Yet, if not thought by all to be a barrier-breaking role model, the doll has represented accurately some of the cultural trends happening in society. 

For me, Barbie was a fascinating toy - an adult doll breaking into the world of Betsy-Wetsy and Thumbelina. Although promoted as a teenage fashion model, I always thought of her as grown up. In 1964, Mattel introduced a younger doll, Barbie's little sister, Skipper. In my dollhouse, Barbie was Skipper's mother, and it was Skipper who had the best adventures while Barbie sat home with Ken. In 1965, Skipper was given friends of her own, Ricky and Scooter. All my dolls were well loved, and played with intensely. They swam in chlorinated swimming pools, were buried to their necks at the beach and dangled from backyard swingsets and trees. They were also the subject of evil scientist parodies as my sisters and I switched their heads around and jumbled up their wardrobes. If nothing else, these toys were well engineered, because through it all they have survived and are now enjoying a quiet retirement in a glass cabinet.