Here’s a refreshing argument: Barbie has been, and still is, a good role model for little girls.

In contradiction to many opinions out there, I think the 6-inch tall plastic doll is doing much more good than harm. Sure Barbie is considered to be the physically perfect woman, but I highly doubt that the five, six or seven-year-olds who actually play with the doll note that Barbie has a tiny waist that’s not proportional to her bust or hips.

Barbie is breeding a new kind of girl, and has been doing so for 50 years. For children who play with the dolls, Barbie becomes more of an avenue for imagination.

“She became a vehicle for our dreams of having it all,” said feminist author Courtney E. Martin in an interview with The Pitch. “She can facilitate the imagination and encourage girls to role play their different impressions of womanhood.”

This year’s newest Barbie is the “I Can Be…” which is a model that can take the form of a “pet vet”, rock star,  “kid doctor”, a babysitter, ballerina or even computer engineer. Barbie’s careers inspire the young girls playing with her to pursue careers themselves later in life, beyond the role of the homemaker.

This idea becomes more and more comforting as years pass, as women progress and advance in society, and in the home and work place. Barbie has reflected women’s progress all throughout her 50 years of existence, and has sometimes overestimated America’s progress, getting herself into some trouble.

The “Totally Stylin’ Tattoos Barbie” stirred up controversy in 2008. In 2003, Saudi-Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbies in the country, because she did not comply with Islamic traditions.

Midge, Barbie’s BFF, was pulled from several Wal-Mart shelves in 2002 after parents complained that having their child playing with a pregnant doll was a little “too real” for them. Another controversy surrounding Midge: initially, during her first “pregnancy,” she did not sport a wedding ring. Woah, watch out, Barbie and friends are breaking boundaries.

Career Barbie

Barbie has pursued more than 80 careers throughout her 50 years, in seven separate fields. She has had careers in the usual: a teacher, a nurse, a veterinarian. But more surprising are her career paths in usually male-dominated fields, like science and engineering, government and military. Despite the fact that only about 17 percent of Congress is made up of women, Barbie still ran for president, and won, in 2000! She has also been an ambassador for peace and a UNICEF summit diplomat.Barbie also enrolled in the Air Force, the Navy and the Marine Corps , joining the thousands of women who make up 20 percent of the military today.Barbie has also had careers as a police officer, a firefighter, a Canadian mountie, an astronaut, a NASCAR driver, a doctor, a pilot, a chef, a photographer and an Olympic athlete.I wonder if she’s experienced any sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace?

Once you look past her features and her clothing, all the different Barbie dolls are inspiring and ambitious women, with determined and motivated career paths, balanced with a healthy family life. Heck, even Barbie is inspiring to me. I think I’ll go out and buy the Ambassador Barbie, you know, for moral support. I’m glad her creators didn’t feel restricted when it came time to think of new models for her. They didn’t just stop at secretary or flight attendant.