OPINION — Sometimes, it’s the popular girls who get picked on the most. Just ask a certain blonde. Because she’s heard it all over the years.
“She’s unrealistically beautiful!” “She feeds stereotypes about gender roles!” “She promotes body shaming!” And yet she remains as popular as ever. Although she’s now 67, she doesn’t look a day over 19. Oh, she’s also among the best-selling toys of all time.
Yes, it’s Barbie, Mattel’s beloved doll with a career stretching back to the Eisenhower administration. And even though she’s old enough to qualify for Social Security, she’s still a superstar with American girls — on the store shelves and at the box office. (At $1.4 billion, the 2023 Barbie movie was Warner Brothers’ highest-grossing release of all time.)
