"After interviewing numerous upper-middle-class, Eastern Establishment women, I can say with certainty that most do not interpret the doll as an updated Neolithic fertility icon. They view her as a literal representation of a modern woman. Many object to her on feminist grounds--one hears the familiar "that body is not found in nature" refrain. Then the word bimbo arises. But let a woman talk longer--reassuring her that she's not speaking for attribution--and she'll express her deepest reservation: that "Barbie is cheap," where the whole idea of "cheap" is rooted in social hierarchies and economics."