--- description: From best-selling Totally Hair Barbie to "Math class is tough" title: Barbie's New Body: The Doll's Highs and Lows Through History image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fe4699be548e12d/69887b06cf40a861d7c41af0/barbie-new-body-shape-highs-lows-animation-facebook.jpg?branch=production ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Toys](/tag/toys/) ## Toys Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # It's a Doll's Life: Barbie's Controversies and Triumphs by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/) and [Heather Jones](/author/heather-jones/) Jan 28, 2016 12:00 PM CUT  Animation by Heather Jones for TIME by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/) and [Heather Jones](/author/heather-jones/) Jan 28, 2016 12:00 PM CUT Barbie’s new bodies—[petite, tall and curvy](http://time.com/barbie "undefined") forms that will be sold alongside the original starting Jan. 28—are sure to spark debate. But Barbie’s used to it. For 57 years she has battling controversy. Before Barbie, girls played with two-dimensional cardboard fashion dolls or baby dolls. When Barbie debuted at the 1959 New York Toy Fair, she was the first fashion doll with a three-dimensional adult form. The men who dominated the toy industry told her creator, Ruth Handler, that nobody would want to play with a doll with breasts. They were wrong. But even as Barbie’s sales have soared over the years—from the first bathing-suit-clad Barbie to Totally Hair Barbie in the 1990s—she was also the subject of protests, usually because of her unachievable figure. Feminists at Berkeley burned her in the 1970s as a symbol of male oppression. The backlash was so great when a talking Barbie uttered “Math class is tough,” that Mattel had to offer replacement dolls to those who were offended. See the icon’s highs and lows over the years. And read [TIME’s cover story on Why Mattel Gave Barbie Three New Bodies](http://www.time.com/barbie "undefined") The three additional body shapes will be sold along with the original as of January 28th via Barbie.com, and will be in retail stores later this year. [Check out this gallery of all the new Barbie looks.](http://ti.me/1nzwUIh "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4197596/barbies-triumphs-and-controveries-57-years-of-highs-and-lows/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4197596/barbies-triumphs-and-controveries-57-years-of-highs-and-lows/"},"headline":"It's a Doll's Life: Barbie's Controversies and Triumphs","datePublished":"2016-01-28T12:00:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:59:02.901Z","description":"From best-selling Totally Hair Barbie to \"Math class is tough\"","url":"https://time.com/4197596/barbies-triumphs-and-controveries-57-years-of-highs-and-lows/","keywords":["Toys","Body Image","mattel","curvy barbie"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fe4699be548e12d/69887b06cf40a861d7c41af0/barbie-new-body-shape-highs-lows-animation-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Heather Jones","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/heather-jones/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fe4699be548e12d/69887b06cf40a861d7c41af0/barbie-new-body-shape-highs-lows-animation-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barbie controversies","caption":"Barbie controversies","creditText":"Animation by Heather Jones for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/toys/","name":"Toys"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4197596/barbies-triumphs-and-controveries-57-years-of-highs-and-lows/","name":"It's a Doll's Life: Barbie's Controversies and Triumphs"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Barbie's 57-Year Evolution in 37 Seconds","description":"See how Barbie evolved from 1965 to 2016","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EZ3inVcx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-28T02:17:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EZ3inVcx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4197596/barbies-triumphs-and-controveries-57-years-of-highs-and-lows/","duration":"PT37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4197596/barbies-triumphs-and-controveries-57-years-of-highs-and-lows/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```