[英语阅读]芭比娃娃“五十知天命”

Barbie feels her age at 50

20世纪最广为人知及最畅销的玩偶芭比娃娃今年50岁了。1959年3月9日举办的美国国际玩具展览会上，露丝•汉德勒携芭比首次亮相，这个介于小女孩和成年女子之间的美国少女顿时成为全世界男女老少的心爱之物。芭比娃娃畅销世界上150个国家，总销售量超过10亿个。50年来，芭比娃娃已经尝试过100多种不同职业的造型，从职业女性到总统候选人，造型百变，创意不断。不过，七年前贝兹娃娃的出现使芭比娃娃的销量开始受到挑战，50岁却魅力依旧的芭比开始想办法回击了。

A model in a Barbie costume poses with a matching Barbie doll in the exhibition booth of the US company Mattel during a press preview on the eve of the international toy fair in Nuremberg, southern Germany, on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009.

She doesn't have a streak of grey hair, her breasts remain unnaturally perky, and she has endless outfits - but Barbie is feeling miserable ahead of her 50th birthday.

Not only is she accused of promoting anorexia among young girls, but her sales plunged 21 per cent in the last quarter of 2008, and for seven years she has had to deal with Bratz, a sassy rival hot on her high heels.

Born Barbara Millicent Robert on March 9, 1959 in Willows, Wisconsin, the 29-centimeter beauty wowed the world when she made her debut at a New York toy fair, leading to sales of 300,000 that same year.

With her long legs, love of pink-tinged glamour, and hair made for combing, she was a world away from the baby-like creatures cradled by girls of previous generations.

Today she is at the center of the Mattel company empire. She has inspired dozens of fashion designers, become a presence on Facebook and MySpace, revolutionized playtime for young children - and forced untold numbers of reluctant parents to reach for their wallets.

New York Fashion Week this month will fete her 50th with real-life leggy models. And there's already a special wedding dress by Vera Wang that will be on sale for $15,000. For Barbie owners, or those without that kind of money, the same is available in miniature for $159.99 at Toys R Us in New York.

Glossy publisher Assouline is putting out "Barbie" with a 500-dollar price tag and pictures of the doll wearing Prada and Karl Lagerfeld.

Certainly, Barbie has no shortage of clothes. She has outfits for 108 separate professions and a total of a billion items of clothing spread across the globe, according to her website.

In the 1960s, she went through the Grace Kelly period, then got a hippy look in the 1970s, a business woman makeover in the 1980s, and in 1989 a Pentagon-approved military uniform.

In 1992 she ran for the White House and in 2004 she caused an uproar in the doll world by breaking up with her notably sexless partner Ken.

The biggest life change for Barbie though has been the appearance of her nemesis seven years ago, the Bratz fashion dolls. The big-eyed, wild-haired beauties have eaten steadily into Barbie sales.

Mattel last year successfully sued to prevent MGA Entertainment from making or selling Bratz, after a court ruled that its creator had conceived of the idea while he was still employed by Mattel.

However, the court granted a reprieve for Bratz so that the dolls can remain on sale through this year.

Then Barbie and her makers will have to brace themselves for the publication of Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel, a book which promises to reveal the doll's dirty secrets, including the sexual shenanigans of her original creator, electrical engineer Jack Ryan.