Less-Lithe Doll A Healthy Sign

Barbie will soon undergo breast reduction surgery. She’s also letting out the waistband of her designer jeans. By 1998, she may actually begin to resemble a real American woman.

This is a day to celebrate for those who care about the cultural stereotypes influencing the psyches of little girls. Barbie’s a national icon - like Princess Di, only plastic - of all that American girls are groomed to become.

With her Corvette, her horse, Nibbles, and all of her pink plastic palaces, Barbie’s been too much fun for two generations of American females to ignore. For girls with a healthy self-concept, she’s no doubt created plenty of harmless fun.

Many girls adore Barbie simply for her hair. Totally Hair Barbie is the most popular model ever, with 100 million in sales. Other girls play Deconstruction Barbie. Eager to find what lives beneath the makeup and hair spray, they spend hours shampooing her in the sink and dive-bombing her 11 1/2-inch frame into the bathtub. The result: Drowned Rat Barbie.

But for girls with a shaky inner core, Barbie can be one more dream-like, but dangerous, image to emulate. Combine Barbie with MTV, rock lyrics and the drivel of teen magazines and films, and you brew a toxic soup of female self-destruction.

Imagine trying to re-create Barbie’s figure with your own. If Barbie were human, she would have a 38-inch bust, an 18-inch waist and 34-inch hips. She would constantly stand on toe tips - think of those bunions - and always have to wear high heels.

Realistically, a teen would need breast implants and rib-removal surgery to create that figure. Sadly, many girls try do-it-yourself projects, starving themselves lettuce leaf thin and vomiting after every meal. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 1,000 American women die of anorexia each year.

So let’s celebrate Barbie’s new shape. Mattel has announced she’ll still be beautiful - but with thinner breasts and a thicker waist. She’ll trade a 1980s glitzy blond “Dynasty” style for a more realistic ‘90s look. Think “Friends,” perhaps. It’s not a radical transformation, but it’s something.

But before mental health professionals get too excited, it’s important to look at this season’s new shopping Barbie. She comes with a rack of new clothes and a tiny MasterCard tied to her wrist. Watch out, bankruptcy counselors: It’s Crass Materialism Barbie!

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Jamie Tobias Neely For the editorial board