Part of saying goodbye to the ever-so-popular princess of plastic and her stick figure accomplices is exposing their falsehoods. In 1997, the Wall Street Journal printed an article contributing to this exposure. "It's estimated that if Barbie were a real woman, she would have measurements of 38-18-34." Unrealistic? Yes. Interestingly enough, models from the Victoria's Secret Angel Collection came close, averaging a bust measurement of 36 with a matching hip measurement. Though these extreme measurements make up less than 10 percent of the female population, the majority of women hold them as the standard of beauty, and are left depressed and insecure when they don't measure up.

So, what's a girl to do? Well, for starters, take off those rose-colored glasses, put on some bifocals and get a closer look at the misconception behind the media. Whether the media wants to admit it or not, women will always come in different shapes and sizes. Meanwhile, the models continue to shrink as the standard model size shrinks. A standard size or standard measurement is a guideline that the models must maintain in order to be in fashion shows or magazines. This is because of the size of the clothes that the designers provide for fashion shows and photo shoots. In the 1980s, the standard sample size was a 6 or 8; in the past five years, sample sizes have decreased to a 2 or 4.

Along the same lines, the models of the '50s and '60s averaged 5-feet 8-inches and 132 pounds compared to today's average of a lengthy 5-feet 10-inches and a light 110 pounds. That's 40 pounds lighter and 4 inches taller than the average U.S. woman, and yet these are the women that define beauty in our culture.