How has Barbie been re-invented?
As time wore on the need to change Barbie became evident as much criticism was leveled at the toy by concerned parents and health agencies. Many believed that Barbie set a dangerous body image for young girls. As such in 1997 Barbie’s body was redesigned to include a wider waist. Another re-invention of Barbie occurred even earlier than this is 1968 when Mattel manufactured an African American version of Barbie named “Christie.” Barbie will continue to be re-invented to meet the current social fashions and markets as can be seen by one of her latest re-inventions in 2009 titled “Totally Tattoos Barbie” in which Barbie is sporting a lower back tattoo declaring her love for Ken. All in all it is difficult to actually count the number of times that Barbie has been re-invented. But one thing that can be counted on is that she will continue to be re-invented many more times and in ways beyond our wildest imaginations before the world sees the end of Barbie.
