Thoughts on Barbie

Barbie has always fascinated me. As a young girl I loved playing with my Barbies. I would have different bodies dressed in different clothes and then just switch the heads around instead of going through the hassle of changing their clothes. As an adult I still love to peruse the Barbie aisle at toy stores just to see what crazy new things Barbie is up to.

About 10 years ago I made an observation that the makers of Barbie underestimate the intelligence of children. It was right after the release of Jurassic Park (ok, so maybe it was more than 10 years ago) and I was looking at the different 'job' Barbies. I came across "Pet Doctor Barbie". This seemed pretty typical of her careers up to that point. Then, right next to the pet doctor was "Paleontologist Barbie" complete with her pink canteen and hiking boots. Why does Matel think that kids would know what a Paleontologist was but not a veterinarian? That just struck me as funny.

More recently (as in last week) I was walking through the toy area in Target and discovered that Barbie is the crazy cat lady! She falls into that definition very easily since, A) she isn't married and B) she has more than two cats. I came to that 3+ cat conclusion since the Barbie bedroom set comes with a cat, the Barbie futon living room comes with a cat, and the Barbie fancy bathroom comes with another cat! It gave me hope that someone as successful and beautiful as Barbie still can't find a good man. Although that might be because her only choice is Ken, who always seemed to be a beach bum.