On March 9, 2009, Barbie turned 50 years old. There has always been a controversy over the doll, even in my family. My dad did not let me have my own Barbie until I was five because he said, like so many other concerned parents, that Barbies create unrealistic body images for girls to live up to. In real life Barbie would probably be like 6'3" and have 34 D cups. That is completely irrational for any girl to grow up thinking she can look like that, but despite my family's view on Barbie, I like the doll and when reading an article on Barbie's 50th birthday in AARP today, learned that Barbie has had a positive impact on many girls. 

The first Barbie was a skinny fashion model but as time went on, Barbie began having new, and way cooler jobs. In 1965 Astronaut Barbie was introduced. In 1983 Sally Ride became the first woman in space. I am not suggesting that because Sally Ride may or may not have played with Astronaut Barbie it inspired her ambition to become an astronaut, but the time fits and Barbie was setting a role model saying, "Yes, I'm a woman. Yes, I'm beautiful. Yes, I can do this job."

In 1973 Nurse Barbie goes to medical school and graduates as Surgeon Barbie. The percentage of doctors who were female in the 1970s was 10%. Today that number has risen to 33%. With Barbie gaining success in the work force, it may have inspired young girls to shoot for dreams they may have never thought possible.

Taking a leap in the Barbie time line, we shall skip to 1992. In 1992 (the year Bill Clinton won presidency) Barbie ran for president. Sixteen years later, Hillary Clinton earns 18 million votes in the democratic primaries. Barbie can be a beacon of hope. She showed girls, obviously not Clinton who was hopefully still not playing with dolls, that it is possible to make a difference and you do NOT have to sit and be the president's secretary. Someday, you can be sitting in the Oval Office having a male secretary, if you please.

In 1997 Barbie discovers that Share-a Smile Becky's hot pink wheel chair doesn't fit in the Dream House elevator. The percentage of Americans over 45 who anticipated making changes in their homes for easier living became 51%. 

Obviously all these changes were not caused by Barbie, herself, but I strongly believe she helped move them along. The youth are the future of a nation and if a child talks about how her doll's wheel chair doesn't fit in the elevator or how her Barbie became president, it starts the people who can make a difference here and now make a difference. Children are possibly the most persuasive of all age groups and when they see an injustice, they will interrogate parents until they get an answer that makes sense to them. If that never comes then we get the pioneers of the world such as Hillary Clinton or Sally Ride. 

So Happy 50th Birthday Barbie!