Barbie has negative influences on body image and causes lower body satisfaction levels among young girls, by giving children false pretenses and pressure about being skinny and perfect. The Barbie doll is based off of a popular doll in Germany called Bild Lilli. Originally Lilli was a cartoon character in an explicit comic strip that was designed for adult men. In 1955 Ruth Handler , creator of Barbie brought a Lilli doll back with her from Germany and began making designs for Baribe. And in 1959 Barbie made her first appearance.
Barbie was designed to look flawless without any blemishes or wrinkles and they are made to be perfect and robotic in the way they look. If a Barbie was enlarged to human size she would stand five foot two , weigh around one hundred and ten pounds , her waist would be 20 inches , her chest 38 inches and her hips 34 inches. Researchers at fenlands university central hospital say she would lack the seventeen to twenty one percent body fate required for a woman to menstruate. Psychologists say it is possible that exposure to Barbie at a young age can trigger “Body Dimorphic disorder” later in life. Body dimorphic disorder is a disease, which causes a person to obsesses over something they don’t like about their body which may be extremely minor or unnoticeable to others.
One of the first people who have admitted openly to want to look like Barbie was Cindy Jackson. She has had 52 surgeries and has spent over 100,000 dollars in surgeries. She currently holds the Guinness book of world record for most cosmetic surgeries. She even owns her own website that is her advice on good plastic surgery in helping other achieve naturally beautiful results. http://www.cindyjackson.com/. Would the media have shown more proportional women if Barbie had never been created?
“For young children fantasy and play are essential parts of socialization in which they internalize ideas and values. And dolls provide a tangible image of the body that can be internalized as part of the child’s self- concept and body image.”
( Sutton, Smitth 1997) Studies have shown that children typically choose favorite toys that become central to their identity. It has been argued that Barbie dolls reflect a highly sexualized image and defines girls’ play by emphasizing set roles and patterns of interaction.
A study done of 10- 13 year old on play with Barbie fell into a pattern of 3 types of play ; Imaginative play, torture play , and anger play. In imaginative play, all girls reported in make believe play with creating extended play scripts, illustrating family life, attending teenage events such as prom or having the Barbie go on a date, etc. in torture play girls reported damaging their dolls by cutting of their hair , painting them or removing arms and legs. Most of the torture play occurs in older childhood and in the presence of boys. The girls also remembering to find the torture play humorous. When the girls were asked if they had torture play with other dolls all of the girls responded with just Barbie. In anger play some girls reported from individuals to their Barbie dolls. Suggesting that some girls may feel comfortable expressing hostile feelings through play.
There are other types of dolls out there that promote healthy self-image. Such as American girls dolls and Emme dolls with realistic proportions and appropriate style clothing. With these dolls they also have many different hobbies, that young girls could relate to. Emme dolls are the most proportionate to an average healthy woman and was inspired by a plus size super model which was endorsed by the American dietetic association.
If parents had their children play with American girl dolls, groovy girls, Emme dolls, would young girls have better self images of themselves? Would there be less talk of dieting coming from the mouths of middle schoolers? And less disappointment for not being to be able to be like Barbie?
