Slumber Party Barbie was introduced in 1965 and came with a bathroom scale permanently set at 110 lbs with a book entitled: ‘How to Lose Weight” with directions inside simply stating ‘Don’t eat.’ Body dysmorphic disorder is defined as “a psychological disorder i... ... middle of paper ... ...oung age and continued to be pressed into their minds forever. Not many arguments or tests are done on the positive effects of Barbie. Sure, she is a role model but what about when girls set goals for themselves and later in life do not meet these expectations? Unlike Barbie, most of these goals are unrealistic and cannot be met. Barbie provies alternatives to the female stereotype of a mother and wife, but marriage isn’t perfect like the way it is portrayed.
There is really only one way to solve this big debate between Barbie and everyone against this plastic doll. Have the mothers talk to their daughters when they are young, and make sure they understand that the toys they play with do not have to reflect what they should look like or be like. For that matter the daughters should not be able to watch TV, movies, or read magazines because for the most part all the girls and older women in the media are all like a Barbie in their own way. The solution is to stop blaming one toy doll that many girls have taken much joy playing with because there are girls in the world that have eating disorders or physical issues with them selves. Why not blame society for having certain ideals of what a girl should look like?
Having cartoons like Barbie: Life in the Dream House gives a false idea of the way on which young adults should act to little girl. Barbie being the perfect, skinny, blond white girl living a far from reality lifestyle gives little girls the wrong idea of beauty. Throughout the entire episode never a zero size girl was shown. What does that tell a little girls? That to live a perfect and happy life they should be skinny?
As Lisa returned to Malibu Stacy 's creator, I must revisit Barbie. In the words of her creator, Ruth Handler states “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” Handler developed Barbie as she was watching her daughter Barbara play with her friends their imagining future roles as adults and teenagers. Envisioning that experimenting with the idea of future through this performative play was vital to a girl 's development, Handler fought for years to get the 3-dimensional fashion doll into production, finally launching in 1959. Was Barbie a feminist success for the time?
Barbie, with her unrealistic body type: busty, thin waist, thin thighs, long legs, blonde and blue eyed, is reflective of our cultures idea of being feminine. Yet most women will never achieve, no matter how hard they try, to become a living Barbie. By using similes, symbols and a fairytale like tone Piercy creates a masterpiece starring a suicidal girl rather than Barbie, the “perfect women”, the young girl is compared to throughout the poem. The speaker sets the tone for the entire poem by starting the first stanza with a happy beginning, in fairy-tale like fashion. Just as Barbie’s life is filled with exciting material things, as depicted in the books and movies starring Barbie, the young g... ... middle of paper ... ...this can be viewed as a happy ending is because the young woman no longer has to try to conform to society.
Doll also woke up she climbed down the shelf with her one leg and goes to play with the rest of the toys. “finally!” Missy said. Missy was a Barbie, she was perfect and every little girl who came to the playhouse wanted to play with her. She had long pretty hair, all of her legs, and she was a Barbie. She had it all.
Imagine a small seven year old girl, living in a quiet town on the coast of northern California. One would envision the child playing with dolls, serving tea from her Barbie play-time tea set to her mom or dad, maybe even showing off her schoolwork from the day's lessons in grammar school. A very believable childhood scenario. Not for Jessica Hathaway. Jessica wasn't allowed to play with dolls or teddy bears.
Barbie became a huge success despite the negative feedback they received. In 1963, Barbie released an additional doll which included a book in her packaging title “How to lose weight and recommended “Don’t eat”!”. “From the beginning, the 11.5-inch toy has also been a proxy for battles over the role of women in society.” (Dockterman). As the doll carries much controversy of how a women’s body is supposed to look like, the National Organization for Women begin a strike in New York in 1970. “Some marchers carry signs reading “I Am Not a Barbie Doll.” (Dockterman).
Not only is Barbie tall, skinny, and beautiful, she has all the luxurious accessories to match her perfect life. To go along with her perfect life she is accompanied with the perfect boyfriend, family and dream house.At a young age girls are also being influenced by this doll, what they should look like, and what kind of life they sgould lead. Young girls strive to achieve this look which is life threatening to obtain. Regardless to the changes they made to Barbie, she is still far from real. Little girls that are mature enough don’t strive to look like Barbie because she’s just a plastic doll.
Forty years later, Barbie has her own Corvette and motor home, dream house, and website where you c... ... middle of paper ... ...in situations that occurred in my everyday life, and I put Barbie in my dreams. Through her, I could go anywhere I desired, but I could also put Barbie back on a shelf after playtime. In her essay, Prager says that, in movies, women are always topless and men are always covered because of Barbie. Topless women and covered men were not novelties in 1959, nor are they in 1999. One doll did not account for the events both before and after her creation.