What occupation did your favorite Barbie doll have?

"From what I remember my Barbies never had a job, they were always house wives with kids and about 14 pets. Ken was the bread winner, but I do recall one or two Barbies being the teacher or a vet, but they never had families"


-Yasmin, 22, Caucasian, heterosexual female from England 

How did other people influence the way you played Barbies?

"I think my best friend at the time influenced the way I played with my Barbies all the time. She was very out going and loved dancing and horse riding, I liked to play indoors or look for insects in the garden. She had a lot of activity Barbies were mine were more homely. If anything she introduced me to Barbie camping."


-Yasmin, 22, Caucasian, heterosexual female from England

Do you still have any of your Barbies?

"Yes I have the majority of my dolls left. I buy the odd one whenever I can and I'd love to still be able to play with them, but I don't have time and I think I'd question my sanity a little."


-Yasmin, 22, Caucasian, heterosexual female from England

Would you buy Barbies for your children?

"[I]t depends on the child, if my child wanted a Barbie doll then I'd have no hesitation to go out and buy one."


-Yasmin, 22, Caucasian, heterosexual female from England 

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

"It depends on the child's personality and experiences. I believe the child would make Barbie into whatever character he/she wishes. After all she is only a doll."


-Yasmin, 22, Caucasian, heterosexual female from England 

Did you ever wish to look like Barbie?

"Not really, if anything I wanted to have bright red hair like my Ariel doll, but to me all the Barbies were the same and there was no reason I'd want to be like them."

-Helen, 21, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Essex, England

Was there any particular Barbie you asked for specifically?

"Teen Skipper, because she came with green hair mascara and I liked the idea of giving them wacky coloured hair. Also, Ariel dolls/Ginger Spice doll or any one really that was different - I liked the ones that didn't fit in with all the hundreds of other blonde Barbie dolls. More often than not, I did get these dolls."

-Helen, 21, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Essex, England

How often did you play with your Barbies in family scenarios? Were families always made up of a mother, father and children? If not, what did families consist of?

"Quite often, though they would be a large mix of family members - not all families would have both parents etc. Most often, it'd be mums with children (I never quite understood how Skipper, Stacie etc were meant to be her sisters... I always thought of Barbie as much older than them and more their mother/aunt)"

-Helen, 21, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Essex, England

What occupation did your favorite Barbie doll have?

"I don't remember her ever having one. She had pretty rubbish clothes and I didn't have many other toys to play with her so she was a bit of a loner. Sometimes she'd be a vet but that was mostly because I wanted to play with my animal toys."


-Emma, 20, Caucasian, heterosexual female from the UK

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

"I think it affected me when i was younger. I was best friends with a girl who was like a barbie, blonde hair, pretty and rich, I pretty much wanted to be her. then she turned out to be a massive bitch and I realised for myself that looks and clothes aren't everything. But i guess maybe Barbies might have added to that way of thinking in the beginning."


-Emma, 20, Caucasian, heterosexual female from the UK

Would you buy Barbies for your children?

"If they wanted them, sure. Though not if i really disapproved of the particular model for any reason. Because thinking about my childhood, I just wanted one to fit in with the other girls and play dress up, and that's harmless enough."


-Emma, 20, Caucasian, heterosexual female from the UK 

What occupation did your favorite Barbie doll have?

"One of them was a vet but usually they were just full-time mothers."


-Tiffany, 23, Caucasian, heterosexual female from Britain

"My best friend had the Barbie house. That had such a WOW factor!! Later on when we were around 16 an other friend and i started turning them into a creepy kind of deal. Like car crash Barbie. We didn't have much anger in us, but we did both feel, at that age especially, that it wasn't an icon we wanted to measure up to."


-Carly, 24, Caucasian, bisexual, female from the UK

Did you ever cut Barbie's hair?

"One of my moms old dolls had short hair (which she'd cut when she was younger). In my Barbie world the others would beat her up. I was probably making up for being bullied myself."


-Carly, 24, Caucasian, bisexual, female from the UK