Old School Barbie

I was chatting with a girlfriend yesterday and she is telling me about this Barbie her son picked out for a little girlfriend of his as a birthday present.

“Have you seen that Barbie that has a dog that poops?” she asks.

“Oh, yeah I saw a commercial for it ... I don’t get it.”

“Well, that’s what he picked out for her.”

My curiosity was piqued. I thought I remembered Mattel jumping on the Women’s Lib bandwagon a few years ago-waving banners about body perception and positive self image. Had they fallen off the wagon or was this their lame attempt to portray Barbie as a liberated woman able to pick up dog crap all on her own?

I had to get to the bottom of this. To investigate, I went to the Barbie.com website, where I was instructed to “Think Pink” as I waited for the download of information to come into view. Waiting patiently, tapping my un-manicured nails, I think back to the Barbies my sister and I played with “back in the day.” The buxom, silky haired gals who were up for anything ... skinny dipping in the bathroom sink, cruising topless (and sometimes bottomless—no embarrassing bikini line to worry about) in their cherry red Corvette convertible, or just hanging out at the town home.