Toys are designed to serve as props in children’s games of make-believe.  Children imagine and play out creative scenarios as they manipulate artifactual objects like dolls, trucks, and blocks. They begin to believe in the logical possibility of imagined events and actions: they begin to make-believe. Props coordinate their imaginative acts. Dolls, for example, enable children to represent and grapple with real-world social activities and relations. Because representational props like dolls are intentional props—they are intended to count as and stand for babies (or women in the case of Barbie)—they allow children to explore identity vicariously, practice roles they might someday assume, and investigate their feelings and perspectives.  

Wright, J. Lenore. Athena to Barbie: Bodies, Archetypes, and Women’s Search for Self. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2021.

“This book was born out of a single academic project, a collection of personal experiences, and an ongoing exploration of women’s search for self” 

Wright, Lenore. “The Wonder of Barbie: Popular Culture and the Making of Female Identity.” Essays in Philosophy, Feminine Politics in Popular Culture: The Construction of Gender, 4, no. 1 (January 2003): 28–52.

“[My] aim in this paper is to explain and critique how representation in popular culture shapes female identity 

"Barbie offers children a safe and creative arena for modelling and formulating their own images of what is beautiful." — Lenore Wright, from BBC “How Does ‘Curvy Barbie’ Compare with an average woman?

For some fun with Barbie, check out the artworks by Trophy Wife Barbie.