Did you ever play with imperfect dolls?

"Yes, I did. I would play normally with the ones that weren't too badly damaged, but the ones with bad hair were always wearing hats. I used the ones without heads as mannequins for my barbie clothes."


-Helena, 15, Persian, heterosexual female from Toronto, Canada 

What kind of Barbie accessories did you own?

"I had a castle and a house, and all of the furniture for them. I liked the castle better because my barbies wouldn't quite fit into the house."


-Helena, 15, Persian, heterosexual female from Toronto, Canada 

Did you ever wish to look like Barbie?

"I would always grow my hair out to look like barbie. I wanted to have a body like hers when I grew up, and at one point, for a few months, I wanted blonde hair and blue eyes."


-Helena, 15, Persian, heterosexual female from Toronto, Canada

How often did you play with your Barbies in family scenarios?

"The only families my barbies had were siblings. My parents were divorced, and I didn't know or like the portrait of a "normal" family."


-Helena, 15, Persian, heterosexual female from Toronto, Canada

"[M]y favourite Barbie was the one that looked the most like me. She had long brown curly hair and slightly darker skin than the rest. I still have her, in nearly perfect condition."


-Helena, 15, Persian, heterosexual female from Toronto, Canada

Did you have Ken dolls? How did male dolls act in relation to your female dolls?

"I had a few Max Steel dolls. One was one of my barbies' brother, and was "dating" my favourite barbie. The other was a "badguy" and had a bunch of girlfriends. One of them would always kill the other."


-Helena, 15, Persian, heterosexual female from Toronto, Canada

How did your parents feel about Barbie?

"They let me do what I wanted. I liked making movies with my barbies, usually involving one of them being a princess, and my parents would sometimes watch."


-Helena, 15, Persian, heterosexual female from Toronto, Canada 

Did your Barbies have pets?

"Yes, always. I can't live without my pets and neither could they."


-Maggie, 19, Caucasian, female from Toronto, Canada

Did you ever cut Barbie's hair?

"I cut my Barbies hair. I always thought that they'd grow back, but they never would. I always liked the Barbies with short hair better than the other ones."


-Doreen, 18, Caucasian, lesbian female from Canada 

Has playing Barbies as a child affected who you are today?

"My Barbies kissed each other. My Barbies slept with each other in the same bed. And had they been able to talk, they would have told you that this was normal. And when I grew up, girls kissing girls was still normal."


-Doreen, 18, Caucasian, lesbian female from Canada

What occupation did your favorite Barbie doll have?

"She didn't work. She just talked and had sex with Ken."


-Roxanne, 17, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Canada

How did other people influence the way you played Barbies?

"Nobody influenced how I played with my Barbies. All I remember, is that I never had a Ken doll, so I would make my Barbies kiss each other, and have fashion shows and weddings with each other. It was incredibly homoerotic."


-Doreen, 18, Caucasian, lesbian female from Canada

Did you ever cut Barbie's hair?

"Yes, because she needed a new look. I felt good. I loved it. Even though she looked wrong afterwards. It was refreshing."


-Roxanne, 17, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Canada

When did you stop playing with Barbies? Why did you stop?

"When I was about 7. I got really into playing with cars and I just never went back."


-Roxanne, 17, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Canada

Would you buy Barbies for your children?

"I would buy Barbies for my children if they asked me to. I would also buy them Tonkas if they asked me to. Toys are toys."


-Doreen, 18, Caucasian, lesbian female from Canada

Did you ever play with imperfect dolls?

"My brother would occasionally break my Barbies- it didn't matter to me, I would usually overlook the imperfections and continue on with my game."


-Linda, 15, Chinese, heterosexual female from Canada

Has playing Barbies as a child affected who you are today?

"Yes. I used to make Barbie and Ken have sex. Ken was always domina[n]t and Barbie was the submissive one. Now when I have sex, I want to be the submissive one."


-Roxanne, 17, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Canada

Did you ever wish to look like Barbie?

"Not like the old version of Barbie- the newer one. I just wanted to have pretty clothes like her..I didn't care for my appearance until I was 13 years old. However, I wanted to have perfect skin, waist, boobs."


-Linda, 15, Chinese, heterosexual, female from Canada

Do you think Barbie is a good role model for children?

"No. She's all legs, and hips and hair. Also her feet are moulded for high heels, that is so wrong. She's teaching girls that you needed to be moulded and uniform and cookie-cutter."


-Roxanne, 17, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Canada

How often did you play with your Barbies in family scenarios?

"Most of the time they were empty nest families"


-Linda, 15, Chinese, heterosexual female from Canada