Barbie is cheap and cheerful. There are many Barbie's for under $10, and you can usually find one (currently Surf City Barbie) on sale for $4.99. Barbie is no slacker. She gets the big picture. Barbie is part of the national consciousness. Ask anybody what they think of Barbie and they will respond as if they met her once at a party, or have known her for years.

Barbie is a doll that little girls (and some boys) like to play with. She comes in different skin shades and has different careers.

Barbie has become one in the family and nothing can stem this tide. Even the most committed feminists have been known to buy Barbie dolls for their daughters, as have fundamentalist Christians. ww.Barbie.com has remained a prominent figure because Mattel has "'correctly assessed what it means to a little girl to be a grown-up'".

ww.Barbie.com has also been the object of parody and criticism. Her unrealistic measurements have prompted many to worry that little girls might strive to look like Barbie and fail, causing low self esteem and poor body image. Barbie has a fan club and received thousands and thousands of letters. She has also been the subject of numerous fashion columns across the United States. Barbie has always been about the Corvette, the mansions, the private jets and the horses. Maybe that's why the MP3 thing doesn't surprise me.

Barbie has been produced in hundreds of varieties and collectors are willing to pay huge amounts for the rarest Barbie dolls. Doll collectors search wide for Barbie and sellers can easily sell the more highly sought editions of this famous doll. Barbie has also become a popular collector's item. Vintage Barbie dolls can be very expensive - particularly the original 1959 #1 Barbie. Barbie has a boombox.

Mattel (ww.Barbie.com) is actually the largest manufacture of women's clothing in the world, thanks to Barbie. A million Barbie dolls are sold, each week. Mattel was so swamped with orders that it took several years for supply to catch up with demand. Mattel soon gave Barbie's face a softer look, but the problem was not the face. If Barbie were human-size, she would have a relatively modest 36-inch chest but a waist of only 18 inches.

Mattel claims that complaints about the doll's proportions were in fact not the impetus for the new shape. According to Mattel spokesperson Lisa McKendall, "In order for hip-huggers [the new doll's debut outfit] to look right, Barbie needs to be more like a teen's body. Mattel continued to grow from a very profitable business into a corporate giant. Mattel's bestselling doll also needs a boost at a time when girls' attention is increasingly diverted by after-school sports and computer games. Apparently, that means infiltrating girls' lives everywhere they go.