Casting a dark shadow over Barbie, some of the photos show the doll in some compromising positions: being arrested by police, dealing with a hangover and the aftermath of pregnancy.
But Haney doesn't stop there. She also portrays Barbie boy toy Ken cross-dressing, dealing with an empty life of drinking alone, having a breakdown and cheating on Barbie.
With her first work dating back to 2002, Haney said she began the project as "a kind of visual joke."
But what really inspired Haney was what she saw as "Barbie flashing her happy little vacant smile at the most inappropriate times."
"I was able to expand it so much beyond the initial joke in large part because the doll herself embodies such a contradiction," Haney said in an email to The Huffington Post. "She's marketed as this wholesome, all-American Madonna to little girls, but if you look at her as an adult, particularly at her body and clothes, she's a pretty clear embodiment of the whore."
Still, Haney said Barbie is the perfect icon to poke fun at.
"A number of the images would be incredibly bleak if they featured real people, but it's the dolls you adored at age 7 and railed against at age 17," she said.
So next time you see the blue-eyed bombshell's smile, just remember, life isn't always so fantastic in plastic.
Check out Sarah Haney's Barbie photo series below:
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The Huffington Post | By Tara Kelly Posted: 03/19/2012 11:48 am Updated: 03/19/2012 12:34 pm