Astronaut, computer engineer, Hawaiian haver of "fun" —Barbie's held more jobs for which she's clearly unqualified than Ryan Seacrest. But all of her career costumes were supposed to be a means to an end, a way for girls to play with a doll who would encourage them to pursue their big dreams. Turns out, career-having… » 3/05/14 3:00pm 3/05/14 3:00pm

If you have been on the Internet in the past few weeks, it's likely been brought to your attention that Barbie, a little hunk of plastic shaped like a woman with synthetic hair on it, appeared in Sports Illustrated. Many feminists see this unholy union as a perfect reification of the problems with both crumbling… » 2/21/14 1:20pm 2/21/14 1:20pm

Time has a blog post defending Barbie against its "bad body image" critics, but it does so in a curious way, by calling Bratz dolls sluttier. » 2/06/14 5:10pm 2/06/14 5:10pm

For years, Barbie has been the go-to example of the ways our culture teaches girls to strive toward unrealistic beauty standards. Well, the brand's VP of design has finally responded to the critics. She counters that the realism isn't the point—the doll's design is mostly about making tiny clothes that actually fit. » 2/03/14 11:00am 2/03/14 11:00am

Any minority who has felt the frustration of trying to find a doll that corresponds with a specific ethnicity knows the true meaning of futility. I usually switched between my Mulan Barbie (whose hair never fucking reattached), and hand-me-down Indian Barbies from the Dolls of the World Collection. (Because a… » 1/29/14 3:30pm 1/29/14 3:30pm

Tonight, Channel 4 in the UK will premiere an hour long documentary, Secrets of the Living Dolls, about female maskers and the men behind them.

Female maskers/dolls are a community of men who use latex rubber suits to recreate and exaggerate the female form. Also, they wear full face masks often with heavy drag… » 1/06/14 12:40pm 1/06/14 12:40pm

If you love subversive, macabre art, then these Victorian Dolls are for you. Along with the self-disemboweling one, there's also a porcelain figurine with an open throat wound, one with half its skull exposed, and one that's decapitated. And looking so ladylike the whole time! » 12/19/13 5:25pm 12/19/13 5:25pm

U.S. Customs has stopped more than 200,000 dolls from getting in the hands of children this holiday season because they were toxic. » 11/20/13 12:20pm 11/20/13 12:20pm

Once these stores and factories sold the stuff of children's dreams, but now that they lie abandoned—filled with decaying displays and disembodied doll heads—they are more likely to inspire nightmares. » 11/06/13 10:08pm 11/06/13 10:08pm

Baby dolls displayed in a coffee shop in a trendy area where thousands of tourists visit in Cape Town, South Africa, Saturday, Oct.19, 2013. South Africa's western Cape area is well known for its natural beauty and good restaurant catering fresh products from local farm lands and the ocean. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam) » 10/19/13 2:30pm 10/19/13 2:30pm

Despite the best efforts of many feminazis hell bent on tearing down the impractically built and impossibly chipper Barbie, the original B is still making mad cheddar. (Which she doesn't eat, of course. No other way to keep that 39-18-33 brick house-ish measurements.) » 10/18/13 9:30am 10/18/13 9:30am

There's something very satisfying about paper dolls; I'm not sure if it's their orderly little rectangular tabs, their two-dimensional simplicity, or my fond memories of devising dramatic plot lines with my extensive "Titanic" themed paper doll set (yep). These paper doll sets, however, range from uncanny to… » 9/23/13 4:50pm 9/23/13 4:50pm

He says his past girlfriends are all jealous of his Barbies: "I will never be one of these. What's my waist line?" Yes, I'm sure the worry over their figures is the reason you guys broke up. It's not the 6,000 BARBIE DOLLS RUN FOR YOUR LIVES. » 9/04/13 10:00am 9/04/13 10:00am

Forget having Skipper dry hump Ken in a darkened corner of your Barbie Dreamhouse, the kids these days are all about Harry grinding on Zayn. » 8/28/13 10:00am 8/28/13 10:00am

To celebrate the first anniversary of Curiosity's landing on Mars, Mattel has issued a special Barbie doll. And yes, she's wearing pink. » 8/07/13 12:40pm 8/07/13 12:40pm

Valeria Lukyanova started the trend of young girls in Odessa turning themselves in walking, talking Barbie dolls, and now she has her own VICE documentary, Space Barbie. It's called that because she looks like she's made of plastic and thinks she's from outer space. » 7/25/13 11:30pm 7/25/13 11:30pm

Not content to let the Tooth Fairy live a life without product placement, the Real Tooth Fairies has decided to finally monetize the hardworking pixie. What's that sound, you ask? Oh, that's just the Easter Bunny and Santa locked in a closet, dancing while Rich Uncle Pennybags laughs and blows cigar smoke in their… » 7/23/13 9:34am 7/23/13 9:34am