A popular pop group some years back produced a hit entitled Barbie Girl. In the song, the pop group didn't paint a good picture of Barbie, portraying Barbie as a real person with low morals and a superficial personality.
This less than positive view of Barbie and Barbie dolls came to fore after special interest groups decided to tackle the seeming physical figure of Barbie that they claimed caused the little girls that idolized the image of Barbie to have a false self image.
A Barbie girl was portrayed to have the perfect face, figure, clothes and accessories. Barbie girl accessories did not only include items like shoes and bags but extended to items like fur, furniture and even a car and a Malibu House.
Perhaps they were right about the image of a Barbie girl having adverse effects on children. Barbie has been a hit since it was launched in 1959 and has enslaved children and adult alike with her charm. Perhaps, not a single consumer exists without being aware of who or what a Barbie girl is, even though it has been over 50 years since the first Barbie was produced.
Now the issue of body image and unbridled consumerism continue to plague our society. It no longer is a moral issue but has become a pressing matter that has an immediate effect on health and the environment. However, perhaps it was short sighted for interest groups to blame the Barbie girl and her manufacturers. After all, perhaps Barbie and her image and persona were a symptom of the underlying human faults rather than the cause.
Whatever the case, the popularity and success of the Barbie girl image have surpassed any other toy ever invented. More than dolls, the Barbie girl image has branched out into other areas like actual fashion for girls. It is like the Barbie girl image was too much to be contained and has spread on to areas like printed materials in the form of books, movies, games and life sized accessories like notebooks and such.
Despite other dolls coming into the scene and competing for the attention of girls, the brand of Barbie still caries clout and her image continue to be something that people aspire to. Whether that is a good or bad thing is something now that is beside the point. After all, even if all Barbie girl items were recalled and no new Barbie items were produced, the image of the Barbie girl has permeated several generations already and it will take some time for the image to be forgotten if that is possible.
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