Barbie

So I'm a frequent of facebook (who isn't) and today I became a fan of Barbie. I mean honestly, what girl who grew up from 1960-2004 (the year Barbie and Ken broke up and Mattel lost all hope) isn't a fan of Barbie? I had more Barbies than I knew what to do with and every day after school my best friend Kelly and I would play Barbies at her house. With all the outfits and accessories, a little girls imagination could run wild with fancy parties, beach fun, changing occupations, and taking care of her little sister Kelly with her best friend Teresa. I'm pretty sure thats where my obsession with fashion started because I must have had over 200 Barbie outfits.Anything was possible with Barbie and friends. You could live out your 10-year old wedding dreams with Ken as many times as you wanted. Lets face it, Ken will always be the ultimate guy.
Today I don't have any of my Barbies left. When I was 15 my cousin Elizabeth was born and my mom gave all my Barbies to her. But I'm glad because when I went to Target this Christmas, there were exactly 4 different types of Barbies to chose from. Two involved bathing suites and the other two were extremely fancy holiday-themed and priced Barbie. Today instead of playing with versatile do-it-all and look gorgeous Barbie to play with (and look up to) girls have Bratz dolls. Much like todays culture, Bratz dolls are make-up heavy with less-than tactful outfits. While yes, Barbie was a tall, super skinny blond, at least she gave girls empowerment through her many job titles and tasteful clothing. Barbie made beautiful sophisticated, not cheap.
In my humble opinion, Barbie was an amazing, integral part of many young girls in my generation (including me!) growing up. It gave us the courage to say, yeah I want to be a doctor (or vet, teacher, NASCAR driver, police officer, astronaut) and look stunning.
Next time your at the store looking for a gift for a certain 5-12 year old girl reach for the Barbie, it may change her life!