Maybe you’ve heard there’s a Barbie movie coming out? It is, however, about the 11½ inches of intellectual property that inspired all the madness: the doll itself. Just as remarkable as the ways the doll has changed since then are the ways it hasn’t. Like the characters on “Sesame Street” or “South Park,” Barbie exists alongside us without quite aging with us — reflecting our times, but not our wrinkles. That adaptive consistency may play a role in maintaining her cultural ubiquity (alongside her literal ubiquity), for while the things that make Barbie Barbie may get a face lift every few years, the DNA remains unchanged.

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Persons: you’ve, Barbie, Barbie Barbie Organizations: Mattel