In an interview with Fast Co. Design, Mattel's vice president of design for Barbie said their intentions were not to create a realistic doll.
"She was designed for girls to easily dress and undress," Kim Culmone said.
Last year, artist and researcher Nickolay Lamm released photos depicting what Barbie would look like as an average 19-year-old woman. The "normal Barbie" is much shorter and not nearly as thin as the famous doll.
If Barbie was a real person, her body would not have enough room for her internal organs. Critics claim the dolls unrealistic figure can damage a little girl's body image.
Culmone disagrees with those critics, saying children and adults view the world in a different way.
"They don't come at it with the same angles and baggage and all that stuff that we do," Culmone said. "When they're playing, they're playing. She's taking her Corvette to the moon, and her spaceship to the grocery store."
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