The Barbie doll is the best selling fashion doll of all time. By 1998, Mattel Inc., the producer of the doll, estimated that the average American girl between the ages of three and eleven owned ten Barbie dolls. More than just a toy, the Barbie doll has become an American cultural icon (a symbol of American culture).

The Barbie doll's status as an icon stems from its use as a model for young girls' real life hopes and dreams for their own adult lives. Debates rage over whether or not the doll is an appropriate role model for girls in discussions about women's relationship to fashion, their independence in the workplace, their interactions with men, and their body image. The doll has been made fun of by musicians and comedians and criticized by feminist scholars. But despite any controversy, children throughout America and the world have embraced the doll...