Yes, Barbie is a feminist...?!

Margot Robbie stars in Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, who has a feminist track record. — Warner Bros. Pictures/TNS

ALMOST 30 years ago, when I researched and wrote a history of the people and ideas that led to the creation of Barbie, I had no doubt she would be as talked about in 2023 as she was in 1959, when she first appeared.

But what I never expected was the way that this plastic object, once tarred as anti-feminist, has come to be viewed as feminist, or, in any event, as an important cultural touchstone in understanding feminism.