Since the 1970s, communication studies scholars who teach media analysis have incorporated key concepts of critical/cultural studies into their syllabi. Of central importance has been the theory that audiences are agentic and take an active role in the process of making meaning from the media with which they engage. Fundamental to this theoretical framework is the principle that media texts, and the messages they contain, are polysemic, or have multiple meanings. Thus while producers may encode texts with dominant ideological meaning, these same texts may not be decoded, or read, by audiences in the ways in which they were intended. The original blond-haired, blue-eyed Barbie, first created by Ruth Handler in 1959, while an American product, is a global icon and plaything selling in more than 150 countries around the world. Students who do not have direct personal experience with Barbie will have visual familiarity with the doll from advertisements and toy store shelves. Though Barbie may be an unlikely "media" text, she surely fits the bill as an object of mass communication, and has been studied by communication researchers. This article discusses an inquiry-based activity which uses stories as well as critical analyses of Barbie to guide students through a process of analyzing a text from four perspectives: (1) personal meaning making; (2) the meaning making of other audiences; (3) the intent of the text's producer; and (4) a critical feminist lens. Students then learn to integrate these perspectives into a complex analytical essay that illuminates the critical/cultural studies approach to media and applies what students have learned about polysemy and textual decoding. A list of references and suggested readings is included.