As a mother of two girls, I am well acquainted with Barbie dolls. We have a whole bin of them and briefly we had the dream house that I both got and gave away for free. We have a lonely Ken doll who spends his days shirtless and face down in a corner. There’s a black Barbie with curly hair so my girls know that beauty comes in all colors. We have a scientist Barbie with thick thighs that Mattel made to acknowledge the reality of late nights working on a thesis. Did they make extra clothes for her? No, because they also want to remind us fashion is for skinny people.

Today’s woke Barbie isn’t the one I grew up with. The one I had was Impossible Barbie. Impossible standards for women doll that wants you to be a skinny chef and a smart blonde and pretty doctor while traveling to space only to find out that there isn’t a spacesuit packed for you. She was on the cover of a fashion magazine while also rescuing animals and fighting for justice. She was doing good while also looking good.

But what happens to girls who just struggle to have one of those things? Maybe you got good grades? You should be prettier. Maybe you spent all of your time getting pretty? You’re too good looking to be taken seriously. You ran track, but should have gone out for cheer. You had a baby, but now your body is all lumpy. You lost weight, but your butt and boobs are flat. You volunteered, but now you can’t afford to keep up with the latest trends.

I want to love Barbie, but I still struggle with her plastic perfection. I know that this new movie addresses some of this, but the main character is also played by a skinny, young blonde who has played the romantic interest of men double her age. She’s the latest pretty starlet to replace seasoned actresses who aged out before most people even get started in life. A real life Barbie who I want to be and still can’t quite forgive.