A closer look
Mattel's iconic Barbie actually has a full legal name, Barbara Millicent Roberts, and she officially hails from the completely fictional midwestern town of Willows, Wisconsin, proving that even plastic dolls have overly complicated backstories. She was named after creator Ruth Handler's daughter, which is either a lovely maternal tribute or a deeply concerning projection of impossible body standards onto your own offspring, depending on how cynical you want to be. The iconic doll supposedly attended high school in this fake town before embarking on her two hundred different professional careers, effortlessly transitioning from astronaut to president without ever aging a single day, making the average struggling millennial feel incredibly inadequate
