When Barbie bought her first dreamhouse in 1962, it was difficult for women in real life to obtain a mortgage without a male co-signer. "
From the beginning, much of Barbie’s
existence — her unrealistic physical proportions, the lack of racially diverse dolls, the toy’s reinforcing of gender roles — has been debated in jest and in seriousness," per The
New York Times. "But her home, which has not been as publicly parsed or praised like the doll, has been a mirror for the various social, political and economic changes the rest of the country was
experiencing."Read the whole story at The New York Times »
