One of the most lasting icons of modern times for young girls almost definitely has to be that of the massive range of Barbie dolls that grace toy store shelves. Debuting to the world on March 9 1959, Barbie’s legacy still lives on.

Barbie has a fan base of women spanning nearly 50 years, from the time the Barbie dolls range of fashion dolls was launched to the present day. Although Barbie could be suffering a decline in with the advent of other popular fashion dolls in to the scene, it can’t be denied that Barbie dolls are still highly popular with young girls in western countries especially.

Women who have found memories of playing with their own Barbie dolls when they were young, go out of their way to not only get their own daughters Barbie dolls of their own, but if truth be said, it is these first owners of Barbie who scour the world looking for vintage Barbie dolls, which are admittedly collectors items.

As with anything that has as much popularity as Barbie does, there are detractors aplenty of the many different Barbie dolls and their accessories. One of the main bones of contention however, seems to be the fact that Barbie is and always has been an unrealistic role model for young girls to look up to. Many factors have been cited for this, with the unrealistic figure of the entire range of Barbie dolls being one of these factors.

Many people feel that it sets unrealistic goals for young girls to aspire to, and might even lead to these children suffering from eating disorders or other medical problems, including psychological problems. to counter these detractions the creators of Barbie dolls have given Barbie a much needed face lift to speak.

Whereas the Barbie dolls of earlier times had unrealistic body proportions the new Barbie is designed and built so that it has a body shape that is similar to that of a real life woman. These Barbie dolls are also portrayed as having career goals to which girls can share.

While the previous dolls were merely fashion models, actress dolls and hostess of glamorous parties the newer Barbie dolls have exciting careers which have the potential to inspire girls to dream of high dreams.

Even though many girls choose to buy other types of dolls there is still a portion of girls who are drawn to this doll with many lifestyles to her name. Unlike most of the dolls that you can find in the toy market only Barbie dolls have managed to achieved the status of an icon.