It's a Barbie world.

This picture of original Barbie next to a "more realistic figure" Barbie has been floating around the internet this morning. I've been watching the comments regarding these two dolls on Do Something's Facebook feed. There's the usual, "Yay! She looks so much better!" and "Now she looks like a bad-ass surfer chick!" to the "Dolls don't define who I am." and "I never looked at my Barbie as a child and felt inferior." Those are very typical comments whenever Barbie comes up - and they're all valid. I played with Barbie for years and years (my play time was extended, I'm sure, because I had a younger sister. So when I probably would have "grown out of" playing with Barbie, I had a younger sister with whom I would play). I really don't remember ever thinking that I would never measure up to her, but I do vaguely remember thinking that she was beyond beautiful - and wishing that I could be that beautiful, too. Although I was young, so I didn't dwell on it.

And as an adult, Barbie doesn't affect my view of my own body. However, I think it's important to note that you can't be what you don't see. And I think that might work in reverse as well - if we don't see a wide variety of body types as a child, we'll never see them as "normal" or "desirable." That includes our own bodies.

No, I don't think Barbie's all that's wrong with the world. Advertising images in print, on television, and on the Internet are much more powerful than Barbie, because they're almost always pointing out a flaw that we have that their product can fix. But I also think it's important that children have dolls that have varying body types so that they can see that they all have value - that there's more than one way to look.

I'd love to see Crossfit Barbie - she would come with her own kettlebell, barbell, pull-up bar, and plyo box. Her thighs wouldn't fit in regular jeans because they are too muscular, and she'd have to wear shirts with spandex so that her arms would fit in the arm holes. I'd model her after my favorite crossfitter, Annie Thorisdottir...badass.

(This is Annie. She totally rocks.)