Over the years, Barbie has had more than 100 different careers, 50 nationalities, 300 Facebook pages, 1,000 YouTube clips and close to a billion different pieces of clothing - including some designer items.
But being Barbie has not always been an easy ride. See some of the most controversial dolls in the slideshow below. Which one do you think is the most scandalous?
Barbie, 50 years of controversy
With an anorexic waist size, Barbie has often been criticised for her unlikely measurements. In 1965, ‘Slumber Party Barbie” was sold together with a leaflet on "How to lose weight," that told young girls “not to eat”.Mattel, Inc
In 1997, "Oreo Barbie" scandalised the African-American community which slammed the name for insinuating that the doll is like the eponymous cookie: "black on the outside, white on the inside". Mattel, Inc
In the early 1990s, Teen Talk Barbie spoke, telling her impressionable owners that "Math is hard", inflaming women’s groups. Mattel didn’t recall the Barbie but, in its next editions, the controversial sentence was removed from Teen Talk Barbie's list of comments.Mattel, Inc
In May 1997, Mattel introduced Barbie’s wheelchair-bound friend Becky. But the initiative came under fire when a teenager with cerebral palsy pointed out that the doll’s wheelchair did not fit into the elevator in Barbie’s house.Mattel, Inc
Barbie’s best friend, the pregnant Midge, became the subject of controversy as well. A number of parents worried that the teenage-like doll, sold with a baby in her belly, was not suitable for children.Mattel, Inc
Cursed by the Saudi religious authorities, Barbie was banned from several Muslim countries. Introduced in 2003 as an alternative to the "infidel" American doll, the hijab-wearing Fulla was produced by an Emirati toymaker and the Syrian NewBoy FZCO.NewBoy FZCO
A female Jewish scholar turned Mattel’s Barbie into a "modern orthodox girl". Orthodox Jews were outraged. The doll sported tefilin, black leather boxes that are restricted to boys over 13 in orthodox communities. Jen Taylor Friedman
If Barbie grew old, what would she look like? The answer is on the Internet. Here’s the 50-year-old Barbie, a virtual version of the doll, which breaks the myth of the her eternal youth.Anonymous
