Two Day Magazine

When I was little, I used to ask for the special edition Holiday Barbie every year for Christmas.

The Holiday Barbie was always particularly gorgeous. She had the most amazing gowns, usually with metallic fabric detailing, sequins and velvet. Her hair was always fabulously done, and she had the best party shoes and handbag.  Even her painted on makeup was fancier.

Something about that over the top, glamorous Barbie doll filled me with excitement every year. I loved seeing her in stores, hoping she'd be under my tree Christmas morning.  My absolute favorite Holiday Barbie was the 1991 Barbie.  She had a green velvet gown that was covered in sequins. 

I know there are still a few of these, unopened, sitting around my parents' house.

For years, I got these special Barbies until I got old enough to want clothes and new tennis racquets instead of dolls.  But even when I was old enough to know that Barbie was not a practical body type to which girls should aspire to have, I still loved seeing what Barbie was wearing for her special holiday appearance every year.  And even now, as grown woman who holds a degree in Feminist Theory and who wrote her Masters' thesis about women in Darfur, I still don't see what the problem is with Barbie.

Yes, she has a figure that is completely unattainable.  We've all read the news reports and studies that prove how much plastic surgery a woman would need to have in order to have human-sized Barbie dimensions.  But Barbie has come a long way from what she was when Mattel first introduced her.  

Barbie isn't just white, anymore, and she isn't just arm candy for Ken.  She is available in many different ethnicities and even plays sports and has careers.  Mattel really makes an effort these days to promote Barbie as a healthy doll for girls to play with.  And think about it this way: at least little girls who are playing with Barbies are still using their imaginations and creating their own stories instead of watching tv, playing on the internet or playing video games.

Barbie isn't just a one-dimensional glamour girl, anymore.  And a crusade has been started by a group of dedicated women to get Mattel to manufacture a bald Barbie in an effort to give young girls fighting cancer a doll they can relate to if they start losing their hair due to cancer treatment.

So far, Mattel has said they do not accept ideas for products from outside parties, but the Facebook group where this movement started gets bigger and bigger by the day. I suspect that sometime soon we will see a bald Barbie with an accompanying marketing campaign that encourages retailers to donate profits to cancer research organizations.

I, for one, feel no guilt about Barbie being part of my past.  Holiday Barbie, for better or worse, made me want to have the kind of life where I got to get dressed up once in a while to go out somewhere fancy.  My parents have taken my sister and I to fancy restaurants for special occasions our whole lives, and I truly think there is nothing wrong with being the best dressed person in the room. Barbie would agree.  

And if the bald Barbie is produced and helps little girls who have cancer feel less alone, then they'll have no reason to feel guilty about wanting and playing with Barbies, either.

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