She’s blonde, she’s plastic, and she’s an icon. She is the hottest toy on the market (…literally). She is none other than the one and only Barbara Millicent Roberts, aka Barbie. 

Barbie was made to be a career-oriented, young, and fashion-forward doll to help young girls see themselves as a woman. Some people have considered her a feminist icon for the past few decades, but as we’ve entered the 21st century with a new perspective on feminism and girlhood, it’s time for teachers and students to ask themselves: what does Barbie mean to them?  

Barbie has been an inspiration, a way for little girls to to play with the idea of being a grown up, for many years. 56 year old Ms. McDonough, who is an english teacher, mentioned how playing make believe with her Barbies eventually turned into reality. 

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher,” Ms. McDonough said. “So, I used to get chairs from around my house. Put ’em all in the circle and put all my dolls in the chairs, and I was their teacher.”

Even though it has been almost 40 years since Ms. McDonough had played with Barbies, she still holds fond memories of the doll. 

“They had these Barbies that were just a head with hair,” Ms. McDonough said. “And, you could comb their hair, style their hair, and put in fringe braids and things like that. So, I loved styling Barbie’s hair. And that would’ve been in the 1970s.”

While Barbie has been a staple in many households, the toy wasn’t every kid’s first choice. Representation has always been an issue with Barbie as her blond hair and blue eyes doesn’t always translate well to children of color, and as a 27-year-old who spent the early 2000s playing with dolls, Coach Ranmal personally felt this way. 

“I loved playing with Bratz dolls, I think I enjoyed Bratz more than I did Barbie,” Coach Ranmal said. “At the time when I was growing up, Bratz was probably the closest thing to a more diverse doll in the sense that they had more diverse features, you know, features that you find maybe sometimes more in people of color.”

A preference for playing with Bratz dolls doesn’t mean that Coach Ranmal missed out on the classic experience of playing with Barbie. In fact she had fun exploring her interest in fashion and cosmetics when playing with her Bratz. 

“I remember Bratz dolls at the time you could put makeup on them and do their hair,” Coach Ranmal said. “You know, if you don’t mess with your doll’s hair, you haven’t had proper fun with it.”

The experience of having a doll as a young girl went beyond just having a fun toy. In fact, in many ways Barbie was more than just a toy. She was a role model, an inspiration, and sometimes a blank slate that girls can see themselves in, like 23-year-old Ms. Thielemans mentioned. 

“It’s something that at least little girls can project onto, even if it doesn’t necessarily look exactly like [them], you know?” Ms. Thielemans said. “Kind of like, ‘What would I do if I was an adult?’ It kind of helps you explore that idea.” 

Ms. Thielemans also spent her childhood playing with dolls. 

“I think I had three dolls; Prince Charming, and I just had like a Barbie,” she said. “I also had the big Cinderella castle and I mean I liked the Cinderella [doll] or whatever, it was super cool, but with the Barbie I could do more with it because she wasn’t just Cinderella.”

Playing with Barbie dolls is a tradition that has continued on to the childhoods of the next generation as sophomore Sahasra Illandula remembers many fond memories of playing with her dolls. 

“My first Barbie doll probably was a mermaid,” Illandula said. “I really liked that Barbie for a long time, I had a princess one and I had Skipper and Stacie, and I had Ken! I used to play with them pretty often. Whenever my friends came over we’d play with Barbie dolls.”

Barbie is more than just a doll, she represents countless memories and generations of childhoods full of young girls. For many, Barbie is a symbol of  nostalgia, a reminder of all the memories of friendships and girlhood before the transition to womanhood. 

“Seeing little girls experience being a little girl [is] really heartwarming, just for that experience,” Ms. Thielemans said.