• 'Life in plastic is not fantastic': Germans protest Barbie Dreamhouse

    Sean Gallup / Getty Images

    A topless FEMEN protester with an inscription on her body that reads "Life In Plastic Is Not Fantastic" holds up a burning cross with a Barbie doll attached to it outside the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience on May 16, 2013 in Berlin.

    Sean Gallup / Getty Images

    Protesters outside the Barbie Dreamhouse.

    By Andy Eckardt, Producer, NBC News

    BERLIN – It is possibly the German capital’s most visible new tourist attraction, but the opening of the bright pink Barbie Dreamhouse Experience was picketed Thursday by women’s groups protesting the “cliché of the female role in society.”

    About a dozen activists - including a man in a pink dress and a wig and a sign around his neck that said "Do you like me now?" - gathered in front of the attraction Wednesday. Read full story

    Barbara Sax / AFP - Getty Images

    A man in a dress protests in front of the Barbie Dreamhouse after its opening near the Alexanderplatz in Berlin on May 16, 2013.

    Jens Kalaene / EPA

    A Barbie doll is burned on a cross outside the Barbie Dreamhouse.

    Sean Gallup / Getty Images

    A male protester wearing a wig and a dress.

    Slideshow: Barbie's Dreamhouse

    Jens Kalaene / EPA

    A life-sized house offers visitors a chance to tour the famous doll's home and even try on Barbie's clothes in her walk-in closet.

    Launch slideshow

    Video: Barbie Dreamhouse draws kids and protesters

     

  • Come on Barbie, Let's go play soccer?

    By Mish Whalen

    I think the Barbies without arms look really creepy.

    Daniel Karmann / EPA

    Toy company, Mattel, introduces a Barbie foosball table at the Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, on February 3, 2011.

    Daniel Karmann / EPA

    Barbie dolls modelled on German national women's soccer coach Silvia Neid (L) and German national Birgit Prinz are presented on the occasion of the 50th birthday of toy company Mattel at the Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, on February 3, 2011.

     

  • Dolls take center stage at the Miss Barbie Venezuela 2010 beauty pageant

    By Carissa Ray

    These gentlemen take playing with dolls to a whole new, and competitive, level.

    Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

    A contestant combs his Barbie doll, "Shantal Martinez Gruber" before entering the doll in the Miss Barbie Venezuela 2010 beauty pageant as "Miss Guarico" in Caracas on Dec. 9. Contestants adorn their dolls, who all have their own names, body measurements and even invented professions, with make-up and the latest fashions in the hope of winning the Miss Barbie Venezuela title and progressing through to the Miss Barbie Universe contest.

    Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

    Ricardo Mendible changes the clothes of his Barbie doll, "Gabriella Isabella Del Rosario Medina Acosta" before entering the doll in the Miss Barbie Venezuela 2010 beauty pageant as "Miss Apure" in Caracas on De. 11.

    Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

    Ricardo Mendible presents his Barbie doll, "Gabriella Isabella Del Rosario Medina Acosta" entering the competition as "Miss Apure" to the judges during the Miss Barbie Venezuela 2010 beauty pageant in Caracas on Dec. 11.

    Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

    A contestant places his Barbie doll on a table during the Miss Barbie Venezuela 2010 beauty pageant in Caracas Dec. 11.

    Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters

    Jose Sanchez, organizer and host of the Miss Barbie Venezuela 2010 beauty pageant places ken dolls on the stage during the contest in Caracas Dec. 11.

    Designers and Barbie doll fanatics compete with their adorned dolls in Venezuela's Miss Barbie contest. TODAYshow.com's Dara Brown reports.