I'm A Barbie Girl

From the New York Times: Mattel's just created another Second Life-style playland for young girls called "BarbieGirls.com."

To explore this website, young girls (the intended age is 8-13) must first register and make themselves into a Barbie avatar.

These look nothing like the Barbies I remember playing with as a child. Wasn't it that we were supposed to be making Barbie look more like a real woman and less like the German sex toy she started out to be?



Here's my Barbie avatar.

She looks eight years old, doesn't she?

(BTW, only one of the Barbie shirt options covers Barbie's navel. Just so you know. And there is no "sneakers" option for Barbie's feet: just heels -- yes, heels! -- and these Mary Janes.)