Sports Illustrated‘s 50th-annual Swimsuit Issue is due out soon, and I admit, I’m excited (though probably not for the same reason most readers are). The Swimsuit Issue has evolved over the years to include photos of stunning places around the world, plus some pretty amazing body art. This time, though, the magazine made an altogether different move by casting a certain controversial model to appear in its pages. Who, you ask? Barbie.

Image via huffingtonpost.com

You read that right. Mattel’s most famous doll gets her own 22-page spread as part of the issue’s “Unapologetic” theme. What exactly does that mean? Both the Swimsuit Issue and Barbie herself have been criticized over the years for giving women unrealistic body-image expectations, so featuring the plastic blonde bombshell in its pages could be seen as a sort of thumbing-of-the-nose at those critics. Love it or hate it, one thing’s for sure: Nobody puts Barbie (or Sports Illustrated) in a corner.

Read the full story on the Huffington Post.

By Lindsay Lambert, Editor

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