The difference is that the ideal that Barbie portrays is definitely negative; in general, it's that a woman is only "ideal" if she is beautiful and a "good wife

The difference is that the ideal that Barbie portrays is definitely negative; in general, it's that a woman is only "ideal" if she is beautiful and a "good wife", so to speak. What she does outside of being subservient to Ken is secondary, when it's defined at all. With boys' action figures, the "ideal" that they push is rather more positive; the characters are "judged" on what they do, who they save, that they beat the bad guy. Their looks are very much secondary.