beauty icon: barbie turns 50
It's hard to believe that Barbie turns 50 this week. With all her various occupations and incarnations – from astronaut, to Nascar driver, flight attendant, scuba diver, rapper, American Idol, and of course, glamourpuss and devoted girlfriend to the ambiguously gay Ken – you'd think she'd be pushing at least 100. It seemed like only yesterday that I was coloring the hair on my Barbie Styling Head with a red marker, only to chop off her blonde locks altogether, giving her a sort of proto-Tank Girl-meets-Sinead O'Connor look. Of course, that was the 80s, and things have changed since then.
Barbie's gotten a lot of flack over the years for her too-svelte frame and humanly impossible measurements. Indeed, I've had an ever-changing relationship with her over the years: as a pre-teen, I adored my Pretty and Pink Barbie, but as a rebellious wannabe feminist teenager, I pegged her as the root of all evil. But now, I love her all over again, in an ironic sort of way. There's now a Barbie for just about every nationality and culture. (Though I'm still waiting for the Latvian Barbie to come out, but I think we're still a long way off.) And Barbie's seemingly more relevant than ever, at least in beauty and fashion circles, with beauty lines for MAC and Stila, to a full fashion line showing at Fashion Week in New York. So,whatever your take on Barbie - whether you love her or hate her – for many of us, she was a big part of growing up as a girl, and you have to admit, the girl's looking good.
What's your favorite Barbie memory?
Images: barbie.com
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