Battle lines have once again been drawn in the political correctness war. This time the fight is geared toward an unexpected target -- Barbie.

Before the Christmas toy shopping rush, a group of women's rights activists calling themselves the BLO -- that's the Barbie Liberation Organization -- switched the voice boxes in talking Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls. To the chagrin of many parents, children were opening dolls on Christmas morning, only to find Barbie made statements like "Vengeance is mine!" and "Eat lead, Cobra!" G.I. Joe said things like "Let's have a sleepover!" and "I love to go shopping!"

The BLO is an organization whose purpose is to ridicule gender stereotypes. It claims to have sabotaged 300 dolls in the past few months by buying the dolls, making the switches, then replacing them on toy store shelves.

All of this occurred in the aftermath of the Barbie battle last year, when Mattel, the company that makes the dolls, fielded complaints about Barbie being programmed to say "Math class is hard," causing girls to develop a fear of math at an early age.

The group's complaints are certainly justified. Gender stereotypes that already prevail in our society are being passed down to yet another generation due to the sexism of the toy industry. Toy company executives never seem to consider stereotypes, sex bias or gender equity when creating new toys or "modernizing" old ones.

It's unfair for these companies to assume every little girl dreams of being a beauty queen, strutting around the beach in a bikini and getting married. They don't all love to shop. Yet that's the image Barbie presents. Why is there no mass-produced "Doctor Barbie" in a lab coat with Barbie's Dream Hospital? Or what about Senator Barbie on Capitol Hill? Barbie is limited to wearing stiletto heels, living in a pink dream house and a driving a corvette. It's time for Barbie to develop better career goals and aspirations.

Little girls see Barbie as a realistic female role model. When Barbie is portrayed as the stereotypical dumb, blonde woman, the image sticks in the minds of children.

Barbie's appearance also sparked a few debates in the recent past. Studies have proven that Barbie's "perfect" figure has caused girls to develop cases of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. These are serious, life-threatening illnesses. Girls grow up believing they need to look like Barbie, and the result is a poor body image when they find that this is an impossible feat. Speaking of feet, even the shape of Barbie's dooms her to wearing high-heeled shoes for eternity. This convinces girls that the only way to truly be feminine is to wear high heels.

In today's society, when more and more mothers are going to work to help to support the family, girls need a stronger female role model to follow, and it is the toy company's job to provide them with one. I do not believe Mattel is deliberately trying to promote these gender biases. I just think it's not putting enough thought into the Barbie line and its psychological impact on girls.

Girls are introduced to Barbie around the age of four, and usually continue to play with Barbie dolls for many years. Children are easily influenced during these years. This is also about the time that mom goes back to work because the child is old enough to start school, a change that can cause children to become confused. A line of Barbie dolls depicting her as a career woman could be used not only for entertaining children, but also to teach about mom's job.

As if Barbie is not having enough problems already, minority groups are now joining the battle against her. A recent issue of USA Today said minority groups want an "an authentically accurate doll -- one that says blonde hair and blue eyes is not the ideal." These groups have a point, considering that 28 percent of the nation's children are black or Hispanic. In 1991, Mattel introduced an "ethnically correct" black fashion doll, Shani, into the toy market, but consumers were not satisfied, complaining the doll would cause black children to develop a negative image of themselves.

In light of these complaints, now is the time for Barbie to receive a facelift, complete with a new image. She needs to be adapted to meet the society's changing demands. As women play a more dominant role in both society and the workplace, Barbie needs to be adapted to reflect this.

One of the easiest and most effective ways of preventing sex bias and discrimination in our society is to teach children about gender equity early in life. Barbie can and should be used to fight sexism rather than prevent it. By liberating Barbie now, we can move toward liberating the views of society later.