First, Barbie’s body size is a negative influence on girls everywhere. “If Barbie were flesh-and-blood woman, her waist would be 39% smaller than that of anorexic patients, and her body weight would be so low that she would not be able to menstruate." –Developmental Psychology If Barbie was a real person her body measurements would be 36-18-33 (Czeck). She would be 5’ 6” and 110 lbs (Czeck). That is simply unrealistic. A woman of healthy weight has a body size of 36-24-36 (Body). A plastic doll has caused girls and women all over the world to feel insecure about who they are and what they look like. Cindy Jackson was so heavily influenced by Barbie that she underwent 20 plastic surgeries! In all she paid around $55, 000 because she wanted to look more like Barbie (Hoskins). Parents are concerned for their children. They believe her unrealistic features and body will make their daughters think that they have to look like her in order to be accepted in society (Lambie). Next, different Barbie’s send different messages to those who play with them; for example, the slumber party Barbie...
I recommend the book “The Good, The Bad, And The Barbie” By Tanya Lee Stone because it exceeded my expectations for a non fiction book. This book explains in detail the evolution of the barbie doll, starting with how it was first created and ending with where the doll stands now. The book explains all the good, like showing the world that girls can be anything they want to be, the bad, how the doll was giving customers body image issues, and all about the barbie, like the different types of barbie dolls and how the barbie became a known name. I recommend this book because I think it is interesting to learn more about the doll that you played with growing up and how a piece of plastic became this popular.
The phrase, Beauty is only skin deep, does not appear to apply in this era of idealism and perfectionism. From the time babies are born through their adulthood, they are raised to conform to specific social roles. Specifically, little girls are expected to grow up becoming perfect feminine beauties created to bare children and care for their homes and husbands. Sandra Cisnero's “Barbie-Q” and Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” portray the female body and gender roles through the standards imposed by the society that is one of the flawless physical beauty; just like the Barbie doll; the perfect figure, hair, nails, and face and ready to adhere to the expected roles of bearing children, taking care of husband and doing home chores. Throughout their work, in addition to criticize "the way in which women are socialized into stereotypical feminine behavior" (Overview: 'Barbie Doll'), both Cisnero and Piercy hold that escape is not possible from these ideals and that it is very destructive.
Barbie's image through the shape of her body and all of her accessories is beginning to lead to many issues in our world. Barbie is portraying a negative impact on society through her influential being as a plastic doll. In 1965 the slumber party package was on the market showing buyers how straight forward she is with her products and accessories. The package had all of the normal slumber party things like a robe, comb, and hair rollers but it also had a weight scale set at a permanent weight of "110" and a disturbing book on weight loss that read in all caps, "DON'T EAT." This package is an example of how misleading Barbie and her products really are because it is implying to children that they should not eat and that if they grow up
Picture yourself as the ‘perfect’ woman. Embodying every woman’s dream. You are undeniably gorgeous, weighing in at 100 pounds, standing 6 feet tall and holding nearly 150 careers (barbiemedia.com). Yes, this is the beloved, ever so ‘inspirational’ childhood toy, the perfectly perfect Barbie Doll. Barbie is America’s most beloved toy, considering young girls between the ages of three and eleven own at least 10 Barbie’s throughout their childhood (‘Life in Plastic’). As creator of the Barbie Doll once said, “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented that a woman has choices,” (Handler). However, Barbie has proved to serve the opposite effect and these ‘choices’ are growing slimmer and slimmer with increased exposure to this popular doll. The ‘Barbie Syndrome’ is an undeniable culprit of girls’ inherent desire to strive for perfection. Barbie’s unattainable beauty, multitude of different careers, and extreme lack of diversity has lead to overall negative effects within women in today’s society. Consequences include ceaseless desire to be perfect, perceived limitations on future careers, and overall lower rates of self-esteem.
Marge Piercy wrote Barbie Doll in 1973. The main message the poet is sending is that girls would go to any length to be viewed as “pretty” by society. At times the poet was very sarcastic and uses irony to get the theme across to the reader. Other elements of poetry are used as well to help the audience understand the poem.
Martin, Melanie. “Negative Effects of Barbie on Girls.” eHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
Barbie is a doll in which does not possess any human characteristics. Although this plastic doll is not real, it is causing a lot of controversy over the human race acquainted with Barbies. Some people say that Barbie is not an appropriate role model for young children... However, regardless of what adults say about Barbies, children love playing with them. There is no reason to believe that a piece of plastic with hair is not a good role model. Barbie teaches responsibility and ambition, teaches children to be what they want to be, and also brings joy to children and friends in her Barbie world.
Imagine being a 5 year old girl playing with baby dolls and brushing your Barbie doll’s hair and feeling fat. A 5 year old feeling fat sounds crazy, right? Well with the influence Barbie has had for years is causing girls younger and younger to feel that their body is not “perfect”. Eating disorders, unrealistic expectations, and self-confidence are all at jeopardy once a young girl is rewarded with her first Barbie doll.
Margie Pearcy's "Barbie Doll" details the image that society projects upon and expects from its young female population. From an early age these young women struggle to conform to the standards that society has defined for them. The results often are disastrous, leading to emotional conflicts that are often difficult if not impossible to resolve.
It was very common to have a Barbie doll growing up, and it wasn’t just a toy, it was a representation of a “perfect life”. From dream houses, to boats, cars, a perfect boyfriend to exiting careers, Barbie had the perfect life. Barbie had the perfect lifestyle AND the perfect body, long legs, small waist and a curvy chest. This taught children from a very young age that having a boyfriend, a career, a house and a petite body is very important. (Worldpress 2011). Barbie’s “attention has been generated by the secondary role she plays in popular culture the artifact of female representation” (Wright 2003). Barbie isn’t just a toy, she mimics
In the early 1960s, Barbie released a “Slumber Party Barbie”. In the set, it included a hairbrush, a weight scale that goes up to 110 pounds, and a diet book that says, “How to Lose Weight? Don’t Eat!” (“Brainwashed”). As for this, Barbie involuntarily unmasked their true message to girls which is if you want to be a Barbie you have to be 110 pounds, and not eat .An expert named Marci Warhaft- Nedler, the author of Body Image Survival Guide for parents, said “Barbie sends our girls one message, and it’s this, You can do anything and you can be anything-as long as you look like this: very tall, very thin, very Caucasian, and very beautiful” (Hains). Nedler exposed the harsh reality of the famous Barbie doll, that it portrays the stereotypical message to young girls that being thin, tall, white, and having a beautiful face will get you anywhere you want to be. Because of the claims made by experts, interrogations were made in order to inform people what Barbie would look like. In real life, Barbie would be approximately 5”6 in height, weight about 120 lbs., and her measurements would be 38 for chest, 18 for waist, and 34 for her waist. This notifies females that Barbie’s measurements are impossible to achieve since her measurements are remarkably off that would be unrealistic to achieve this body. Also, since her body fat percentage is extremely low, she wouldn’t be able to menstruate or live a healthy lifestyle (“Brainwashed”). Additionally, due to her out of place proportions , she would have to walk on her hands and knees (“Brainwashed”). Considering this. Since Barbie’s body is desired by many females, some have spent thousands of dollars to achieve the ideal Barbie look. Specifically, a woman named Cindy Jackson spent $55,000, and underwent 20 plastic surgeries to achieve her goal of becoming a real life Barbie doll (Body Body Image). blah. In the early
Those perfect days as a child when your countless days were filled with playtime. The time to set up those houses and dress the dolls up, and act out the future. “Through their play Barbara imagined their lives as adults. They used the dolls to reflect the adult world around them. They would sit and carry on conversations, making the dolls real people” (Ruth Handler). As a young child, it is all you look forward to in your future: being successful and confident, loved and cherished. Many dolls were used to project this. Specifically, the Barbie. Barbie is a positive role model girl should look up to for confidence and inspiration. She is a talented and educated career woman, self-sufficient in every aspect of her life, and a stunning example to young girls the body that is healthy and fit.
When I was very young, I owned very many Barbie dolls. To me, they were just so beautiful, and flawless, and I loved them very much. But the Barbie that said the most to me was the President Barbie. This spoke to me. It said that anyone, anywhere, of any gender, socioeconomic status, background, sexuality, ethnicity, race, or belief system could be anything they ever wanted to be, as long as they worked hard enough to achieve it. And this is a very important message, and it is a message that Barbie sends to people every day, all over the world.
Barbie, a doll manufactured by Mattel, Inc., encourages an unrealistic body image, racial insensitivity, and contradictive goals, and it is having a negative influence on young girls everywhere. Launched in March 1959 by Ruth Handler, an American business woman and president of Mattel, Inc., Barbie quickly became popular and has gone on to sell three dolls every second, in over one hundred and fifty countries. However, Barbie’s rise to success has not been wholly positive – there have been numerous controversies, parodies, and lawsuits, all addressing a number of issues. One such issue is how Barbie promotes an unrealistic and unobtainable body image. For example, to scale, Barbie is five feet, nine inches tall, has a thirty six inch chest, eighteen inch waist, and thirty three inch hips. Had Barbie been a real person, she would not be able to walk, much less hold her head up. Secondly, Barbie is racially insensitive and perpetuates stereotypes. “Mexico Barbie,” from Barbie’s “ethnic” line, comes with a passport and a Chihuahua, as well as stereotypical red lace ribbons in her hair. Lastly, Barbie portrays goals that are both unobtainable and contradictive. Barbie has had a variety of careers, such as being a doctor, astronaut, and President of the United States, but also engages in stereotypical domestic activities, such as cleaning and baking. These characteristics are affecting young girls in a time when they are most developmentally susceptible, and teaching them a number of negative lessons.
According to Lisa Belkin, Barbie is good for society because she’s fun to play with and she encourages little girls to use their imagination and dream big. Many young girls who play with Barbie dolls have realized that she is just a doll. Some of these little girls don’t have the desire to look like Barbie; they just think Barbie is just a doll that they play with and leave them everywhere. At a young age girls are given their first Barbie doll and thought what “perfect” should be. Barbie portrays the perfect image and life. 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.(Debate.org, 9). According to “The Intentions behind the creation of Barbie”, Barbie dolls ...