Barbie’s history with toys, movies, and games

Header illustration: Melissa Mathieson for Polygon

You’ve seen her on cabinets everywhere in the globe — the over-large eyes, shiny blond hair, pale pores and skin, impossibly slim waist and legs, and arched toes. Barbies have been fashionable for seven a long time now, with quite a few collection celebrating completely different professions, Disney film princesses, and extra. The doll has additionally develop into a preferred character in video video games, tv exhibits, webseries, and films.

Barbie’s cultural affect is indeniable; folks nonetheless purchase the dolls at this time. She’s a trailblazer with quite a few careers, which helped younger women dream of their very own futures at a time when ladies weren’t typically welcomed into sure areas. However Barbie’s affect additionally hasn’t at all times been optimistic. Over time, her design has been criticized for pushing unrealistic magnificence requirements, and for reinforcing skinny, white ladies as a magnificence very best.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film — which will probably be launched July 21 in a double-feature showdown on the identical day as Oppenheimer — is ideal excuse to ask: What does Barbie appear like in 2023? The place has she been, and what has she meant to followers through the years?