Recently, my college English professor brought to all of our attention that Barbie was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated 2014 Swimsuit Issue. My immediate thought when the picture showed up on the projector screen was "Aww look at Barbie! How cute!". I thought it was brilliant and adorable. Immediately following my personal thought were the comments from the professor and the other students in my class. Everyone basically said that it was foolish to have her as the cover model. There was talk about how her body type doesn't even portray the image of a "real women". And comments about how she's just a doll and its stupid for her to be on the cover of a magazine. I sat there in disbelief a little bit. I sat at my desk and listened to the discussion of all the reasons why Barbie should not be on the cover. I sat there trying my hardest to remain open and understand where everyone was coming from, but it all made no sense to me. In my opinion Barbie has always been that girl for girls of all ages to look up to. I've been Barbie fan since I was a little girl. I had every Barbie that came out. She did absolutely everything with a bright smile on her face. To me she was one of the greatest women I've ever had the pleasure of carrying around with me. Her body type and the way she looks on the cover should have nothing to do with the fact that she is a model, a mother, a doctor, a lawyer, a hairstylist, an astronaut, a veterinarian, and a fashion designer among many other things. Barbie is a historical figure, plastic or not. Shes Every Women....what more could you ask for in a cover model? She has introduced countless possibilities to girls of all ages, showing them that if she, a doll, can do all things then they can too. I'm not a fan of handing out the word "role model" because I think that places a great deal of responsibility on someone's shoulders. However, for lack of better words, that's exactly what she is...a role model. Sitting in that classroom at that moment made me realize exactly why society is screwed up. All everyone had to say was how unrealistic and ridiculous this was. A comment that was repeated a number of times was "she doesn't even portray the real women." Well what is a real women? Does one have to be breathing to be able to portray the real woman? Does she have to have curves to be considered real? Do her boobs need to be more rounded or less perky? I don't get how a DOLL should have to look exactly like a "real women" (whatever that is) in order for it to be worthy enough to grace the cover of a magazine. It kills me how society comes up with these rules for the way things should be. Everyone has so much to say about what is right and what is wrong. I was shocked to be sitting in a room full of flawed human beings, listening to them criticize a doll and talk about how annoying and foolish and unnecessary it is for her to be on the cover as if she was half naked with her legs spread on the cover of Playboy. It really bothered me. And what bothered me the most was that in that moment I kept my mouth shut. In that moment, for whatever reason, I let society stop me from saying how I really felt. NEVER AGAIN!