When I was growing up, Barbie Dolls were one of my favorite things to play with. Barbie grew to be a big part of my childhood. My sister and I would spend our whole weekend dressing our twenty two different Barbies. Our den was our play area and the sofa, when the Barbies entered, suddenly became the new Barbie mansion. Under the desk was where Barbie parked her sports car. Barbie and Ken's life became soap operas for my sister and I to create. There was divorce, love, marriage, and even children. There was never and work, but there was a lot of money in our Barbie world. Our Barbies were always ready to take vacations and dress up and party at any time. Malibu Barbie provided the bathing suits and Peaches and Cream Barbie provided the Cinderella like gown for the times when Ken took Barbie to her formal affairs.

Every toy store that my sister and I walked into, we would try to beg our mom for more accessories for our Barbies. We always wanted new dresses and new ways to decorate her house (the sofa). My mother refused to buy Barbie's Dream House because she claimed that it would hinder our imaginations. This was probably true because my sister and I spent hours creating furniture out of shoe boxes to create the "perfect" home setting for Barbie, her friends, and Ken to live in.

Barbie has changed throughout the years a lot. There are so many Barbie themes now in existence that one probably cannot keep count. She can take on any role; there are even many career Barbies in toy stores. Now, in my life, I created Barbie to be a very rich and beautiful woman. I do not think intelligence or love came into my mind when I played out Barbie scenarios as a child. I agree with April Hall when she states that Barbie represents what little girls want to be when they grow up. At least for me, I wanted all of her clothes. Barbie will always remain to be a large part of my life. Even now I reminisce and take a peak at how the Barbies are resting in out basement every once in a while, just to see if they are still looking beautiful.

When I look back at the total influence Barbie may have had on my life, I think her existence was not a totally negative experience. I do not think that her influence went as far as effecting my body image. American society as a whole loves to create thin women, and I think Barbie just reflects an image that was already there in existence. My mom was a firm believer that Barbie would create a "bad" image in my mind of how women should look. She emphasized this when my uncle started off my Barbie collection one year. (That was not her idea.) Barbie did create the pressure, in my life and probably in the lives of my friends, for materialism. I always wanted more things, such as clothes and more things for Barbie. Barbie was a doll that always did have more. My mother was a help in not promoting this materialism by not buying my sister and I everything we wanted and leaving some of it to our imagination to create. My mother thought Barbie would become a bad influence on my sister and I if she let our "wants" get out of control. In essence, I think Barbie's image may have had the possibility to effect my life in some of these negative aspects, but with my parents, it was hard to let these things ever get out of control.