Why Are We Still So Obsessed With Barbie?

The Mattel doll has been through a lot since her 1959 creation—a rise to fame, a public backlash, a breakup, a reconciliation, and much more. Now, we’ve entered her latest era—Blockbuster Barbie—which shows that, somehow, both the doll and perceptions of her are still evolving.

A new trailer for the Barbie movie shows her visiting the real world. In reality, the doll was based on a German sex toy called Lilli.

The iconic doll traveled to space, flew with the Thunderbirds and joined the NBA, beating real-life women to an array of career milestones

Mattel wanted a summer blockbuster to kick off its new wave of brand-extension movies. She wanted it to be a work of art.

Barbie has had her fair share of critiques, especially when it comes to gender and diversity.

There’s only one Allan, and don’t ask his wife about their child.

Selling that old Barbie Dream House could bring you one step closer to getting your own.

In anticipation of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie as the leggy doll and Ryan Gosling as her gelded beau, Esquire gets beneath the plastic of an uncomfortably freighted icon of anti-masculinity.

There’s nothing Barbie has loved more in her 64 years in the toy world than to keep reinventing herself.

The displays of Barbie and her crew at the pond have delighted neighbors, made the must-see lists of tourists and even played a role in a wedding proposal.

How a legal battle over intellectual property exposed a cultural battle over sex, gender roles, and the workplace.

Take a stop-motion journey with the young, single homeowner of the Dreamhouse. Ken isn’t on the deed.

SFGATE travel reporter Olivia Harden designed a Barbie doll that looked more like her.

As the new Barbie film hits screens, we ask the experts about the old dolls that could fetch a pretty penny.

Ken is renting it out on Airbnb—and yes, it comes with a disco roller rink and a pool.

In 1997, a completely unknown Danish pop group turned a tongue-in-cheek song about “life in plastic” into a global hit that’s never truly gone away.