This is the Guardian.

Today, she's plastic, she's fantastic.

But can she ever be a feminist icon?

I still think a lot about the first Barbie I owned because she was so cool.

This was in the early 90s when rollerblading was the thing.

And this Barbie had skates that when you round them along the ground actually made sparks.

I remember how playing with this doll made me feel.

She looked so carefree and glamorous in her yellow pedal pushers whizzing along the carpet,

her hair billowing in what I imagined to be the breeze blowing over Malibu Beach.

And for decades before and since then, Barbie has figured in the lives of children across the world

in a similar way as a fantasy vision of womanhood and who those children might aspire to become.

Wedding fantasy Barbie doll comes with everything here.

Sweet Rose's furniture is sold separately, you put it together.

The fantasy that Barbie sells has been overwhelmingly white, thin and able-bodied.

One popular critique of the doll is that if she were a real person, she wouldn't be able to stand up.

That's how extreme her proportions are.

And though she's had hundreds of careers, she's travelled to space, she's run for US President seven times.

Her critics say the only real aspiration she sets for girls is to smile, look sexy and shop.

The Barbie movie, which is out today, seeks to recast Barbie as an emancipated woman

who actually reaches her potential or be it while still wearing dream outfits.

It's directed by Greta Gerwig, whose previous movies include Lady Bird and Little Women,

films which centre bold, whip smart female characters.

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