Barbie - ridiculously proportioned Barbie - is a villain among body-image activists.<br />Her impossible proportions have long influenced the body image of women - from the curvy girls who never saw themselves in Barbie to girls who never recognized her as an impossible ideal and strived to get her figure.<br />Some studies have linked early exposure to "unrealistically thin" Barbie dolls to the development of unhealthy body image in young girls.<br />That's why Mattel - finally - announced on Thursday that the iconic doll will now come in three sizes: petite, tall, and curvy.<br />"Real women are not cut from the same molds, and now Barbie isn’t, either," Marissa DiBartolo, the senior editor of TheToyInsider.com, tells Mashable.<br />“Yes, some people will say we are late to the game,” Evelyn Mazzocco, the head of Barbie brand at Mattell, told Time.<br />“But changes at a huge corporation take time.”
