When I was growing up, my friend Allison collected Barbies. Her room was a magical wonderland of pink cars, shiny clothes and plastic bosoms. We spent hours engrossed in dressing her up, doing her hair, and trying to figure out what Ken's private parts looked like.

Oh what I would have done for a Skylar doll, a hip toned snowboarding chick who, if given the opportunity, would probably kick Barbie's bony ass.

Skylar is part of a hip posse called the Get Real Girls , who are giving The Plastic One a run for her dreamhouse. Less politically correct as the Happy-to-be-Me doll a few years back, the Get Real Girls are so great because they are people you'd want to be friends with. They like archaeology and design websites. They wear sports bras. And the young girls can tell.

Skylar's friends include Gabi, a soccer player, Nakia, a basketball player, Claire, a scuba diver, Corey, a surfer, and Nini, a mountain climber. These girls have brains (albeit plastic ones) and biceps to spare.

Here's what happened when a trends journalist tested out the GRG recently with a group of kids aged 4 and up: While Skylar and Nini were hiking, another girl saw Barbie lying on the floor. She picked her up and chastised the Get Real Girls for going out on "crazy adventures." Why don't they stay home and try on dresses? Skylar would never get married looking like that. Skylar's answer: she'll only try on a dress if she can wear her hiking boots and backpack with it!

I have one question for Julz Chavez , the former Mattel (the company that conceived Barbie) employee, who overthrew the iron powder puff to create the GRG: what took you so long???

I had Jem was not so wimpy, but her flashing red earrings scared me. She-ra was cool, but she lived in a fantasy world. Barbie was the standard, an institution of girlhood.

What took us so long? Why have we subjected our girls to unattainable ideals for so long? We can't ignore the fact that Barbie, who has stamped out all her competition since 1959, has at least a small part in our demented notion of perfection. The GRG come at a time when over 50% of teenage girls stray from a healthy lifestyle to obesity or anorexia. We NEED the GRG. Desperately.

If the GRG continue to be successful the girls of the twentieth century will grow up to be healthier, more self-confident and independent than ever before. We acquire our most inherent perceptions and habits as children. Independent, self-confident women are not formed overnight. As Barbie has shown us, a rubber doll can change the world.

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Melanie