With her long legs, flawless skin, tiny waist, and huge rack, Barbara Millicent Roberts looks pretty damn good for 50 years old. Just try to find a wrinkle, a sag, or a stretch mark. She has a hot boyfriend, a cool job, and a snazzy pink sports car. Even now, at half a century old, she still prances around in high heels and the latest fashions, but few people criticize her for it. In fact, pre-teens and younger children love her.

How does this woman get away with it? Well, she’s plastic and only 11.5 inches tall. This woman is Barbie, and the 50th anniversary of her world debut is March 9th. Mattel, always ahead of the game, is already starting her big birthday celebrations, which includes a new website, a birthday song (available on AOL video), and “pink carpet” events, including a fashion show of models wearing Barbie’s outfits.

The Barbie doll was invented by Ruth Handler, whose husband was the co-founder of the toy manufacturer, Mattel, Inc. Handler watched her daughter, Barbara, playing with her paper dolls, and she realized that tno teen-aged dolls were available on the market. She decided to create a plastic doll that girls could use for adult roles when acting out stories. She named it after her daughter and gave the doll a woman’s body, rather than a child’s, with hopes that Barbie would inspire children to explore the future and their dreams (apparently, in Ruth’s mind, young girls dreamed of being astronauts with EE cups).

Upon Barbie’s unveiling at New York’s 1959 Toy Fair, many people were skeptical. Critics were unsure of the appeal of the doll, wondering who would buy it and want to play with it. Her first outfit was a black and white swimsuit and a ponytail, a look that Mattel is relaunching this year in honor of her birthday.

With baby dolls, at least the child could “take care” of it. This “Barbie doll” was a miniature woman. The only similar doll on the market was the Bild Lilli, a German doll based on a comic strip character, and it was intended as a gag gift for adults. Even Handler’s husband did not think that Barbie was a good idea. However, the public loved Barbie, and soon more and more Barbie dolls were being created.

Over the years, Barbie has endured many roles and changes. She started out as a trendsetter, wearing all the latest fashions. She has worn outfits by designers such as Bob Mackie and Calvin Klein, mimicked stylish women such as Jackie Kennedy, and followed the trends of each decade, from a bob cut to long hair that little girls could brush and style (1992’s Totally Hair Barbie had hair down to her feet).

Barbie has also had many careers. She has been dressed up to be almost anything a little girl could dream of, from a doctor to an equestrian to a scientist to a Disney princess, which helps promote Handler’s idea that Barbie could be a tool to help girls dream about the future.

(Pictured at left: Surf Barbie)

Barbie’s family has also grown in the past 50 years. She has a boyfriend named Ken (Mattel announced their split a few years ago; however, they have since reconciled their differences), younger siblings, and a posse of close friends. Ken, named after Handler’s son, was introduced in 1961. The Barbie website currently boasts eight relatives and 32 friends.

Barbie has also been the subject of a lot of controversy, especially relating to her body. If her 11.5 inch body were translated into a full-size frame at its original proportions, she would stand at 5’9” and have measurements of approximately 36 inches (bust), 18 inches (waist), and 33 inches (hips). Many critics argue that this might make young girls hope to achieve an unrealistic and unhealthy body shape. The jingle for her first commercial furthered these speculations:

“Barbie’s small and so petite,
Her clothes and figure look so neat…
Someday I’m gonna be exactly like you
Till then I know just what I’ll do.
I’ll make believe I’m you.”

“Barbie is a conditioning force of the ideal woman’s body, [but] rather than being a healthy goal, Barbie is an early tool of shame,” said Justin Holcomb, professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia.

In 1997, Mattel reworked Barbie’s shape to give her a smaller bust and a wider waist. Because obviously, a 20 inch waist is readily attainable.

Others call into question Barbie’s position as a female role model. Said Tristan Bridges, a graduate student at the University of Virginia, “I think that Barbie is a fantastic symbol of cultural lag, meaning that she illustrates just how slow feminist change takes place. Even if we don’t sponsor it throughout our lives, we still like to play with ideals of the flighty teenage bimbo, with a physically impossible figure.”

(Pictured at right: Hello Kitty Barbie)

Items on Barbie’s resume, such as Presidential Candidate, may be impressive, but University Barbie still wears a cheerleading outfit, and she carries pom-poms instead of a backpack. Talking Barbie (1992) lamented that “Math class is hard,” which many believe suggests the fact that women are less intelligent than men.

Even with all the controversy, Barbie is still Miss Popularity. Girls love to play make-believe with her, dress her up, and create stories about her and her friends and family. Many women collect Barbie dolls, both the dolls from their childhood and the current “Barbie Collector” dolls that Mattel releases in limited editions. Because of her wide range of occupations and personalities over the years, Barbie still appeals to a wide range of people. Barbie, it seems, is timeless. After all, it’s hard to look that good at 50.