For a long time now, fashion dolls have been a huge part of just about every little girl’s life. The fashion doll of choice for many has been Barbie. According to Prisna Virasin,”ninety percent of all American girls in the last forty years have owned at least one Barbie” (Virasin 3). Barbie is skinny and tall with blonde hair and spends her time having fun and being a fashion designer. Everything about her seems to be perfect and flawless. From her height, weight, and perfect figure, she seems to be able to do it all. With such a large amount of young girls in possession of a Barbie doll, many have questioned the effects it has on them and the way Barbie causes them to view themselves. For the most part, it has been decided that Barbie impacts …show more content…
In many parts of the world, progress is not even being made. Thankfully, here in America we have made lots of progress, but we are still far from perfect equality. Many women do not believe they are capable of doing the same things as men due to what they are told. Now, young girls are being influenced the same way through their Barbie dolls. Barbie portrays young girls as unintelligent and incompetent. Virasin shows an example of when Barbie does this when she says “such expressions as ‘Math is hard’ and ‘Let’s go shopping’. Parents feared that the first sentence would reinforce the stereotype that girls were less skilled at math than boys” (Virasin 5). The doll unconsciously persuades girls into thinking they will never be as smart or capable as a man. This can discourage young girls to aspire to something great, and cause them to simply give up on their goals and future dreams or brainwash them to compromise with something that is clearly not true. Barbie is slowing progress when it comes to equality between men and women. Young girls should not be influenced to believe they cannot do as much as a man. Overall, Barbie depicts women in a negative light by making them seem unintelligent and incapable of achieving amazing …show more content…
Valeria is now known worldwide as the “human Barbie”. In her 20’s she underwent several surgeries to become the real-life Barbie she is today. Valeria is five feet, seven inches tall and now only weights 93 pounds. She also had her waist altered to 18 inches even though the average waist size for a full grown woman is 35 inches. Valeria says that becoming Barbie is the “ultimate embodiment of perfection” and that she wants to be the “most perfect woman on the internet” (Kirkova 1). Now that Valeria’s wishes to look like Barbie have come true “she hopes to live without eating or drinking and made her goal to live on air and light only” (Jauregui 1). This new practice is called Breatharion and Valeria claims that it is the reason she has her tiny waist but others say it is to keep her Barbie-like figure. After Valeria posted videos and pictures online of her new Barbie body, thousands of girls began to try Breatharion. According to Jauregui, “several of these girls has starved to death because of the Breatharion regimen” (Jauregui 1). Barbie alone has put the idea of “ultimate perfection” in so many girl’s minds and now that there is a real-life Barbie those false ideas of perfection will only weigh even heavier on the shoulders of our younger
While Barbie is known for giving off a bad message for children's body image, however she also has a very empowering massage. Many grownups believe that barbie has unrealistic body standards for young girls to look up to. Yet, many 6 to 10 year olds are not worrying about their body at this time of their life. Barbie was created in 1959, based off of Ruth Handler’s daughter’s fascination with an older doll. Her daughter wanted a teenage or grown up doll(“History”). Barbie was created by Ruth to show that a woman can do any job or any profession. "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 a woman has choices."(“History”). In the 60’s and 90’s this was big because of all the women equality movements going on in America. Barbie also helps girls imagination. In a video recently released on Barbie’s website, it shows how Barbie can help a girl's imagination. In the video multiple young girls are seen doing grownup jobs. In the end it shows a little girl acting out the same jobs with her barbie dolls(“Imagine”). This shows that Barbie can help a girl imagine she can do anything just like the Barbie catch phrase, “Be who you want to be”. Barbie also has diversity. Christe, Barbie’s African American Best friend, was created to help make Barbie more diverse(Sherrow). There are even Latino Barbies
One study took a group of 6th grade girls and had them play with Barbie’s, then later asked them what their views of Barbie were:
Millions of women have gone along with this fantasy and have been entranced by the unrealistic standards of appearance and false qualities of life. Sadly, more and more women have accepted these standards as their own and have even resorted to changing who they are to become what they believe to be real. This may be a major contributing factor to the rise of women seeking breast implants and or plastic surgery. Yet there could be a further explanation and meaning behind Barbie.
Young girls have been playing with Barbie dolls since the dolls inception at the American International Toy Fair in New York. Recently, researchers have been skeptical on whether the dolls have an effect on the self-image of girls who play with them. In order to determine if Barbies have an impact on young-girls self-concept, clinicians have carried out several studies where they monitor the interaction between the young girls and the famous figurine. From these experiments, scientists concluded that Barbies can have a bearing on a girls self-image, making the consumers who buy the doll more aware of the issue Barbie
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
Emily Prager, in Our Barbies, Ourselves, stated that Barbies have influenced little girls around the world on what the perfect body looks like, when in reality there is no “perfect” body. Our Barbies, Ourselves states “here are millions of women who are
Children’s child play has become a form of an unrealistic world. Although, it is considered for children to begin creating a creative imagination, the mind fascinates children into toys. Some child’s play toys are not ideal for young children, like the one and only “Barbie”. Barbie has become a worldwide toy product for children all over the world, from the North Pole to the South Pole. These dolls have emerged from one ethnicity to another. In Ann DuCille, “Dyes and Dolls: Multicultural Barbie and the Merchandising of Differences” the author talks about the race and gender differences; found in Barbie. She argues; “Is Barbie bad?” her response, was “Barbie is just a piece of plastic” (459). In contrast, this piece of plastic is not just a piece of plastic to young girls; it is much more than that. A piece of plastic that little girls all over the world wish they could be. Even though, it is only a piece of plastic to adults that Barbie significantly means nothing to them. Growing up, I owned a couple of Barbie dolls. The tall, long blond hair, blue-eyed doll was my best friend and my “role model”. I wanted to become exactly like Barbie. As a child, I thought only beautiful people who looked liked Barbie signified beauty. To my little to no knowledge, I soon came to find out no one really looks like Barbie, except people who want to become like Barbie. In my adolescent years, no one taught me Barbie was “unreal”; no one taught me it was just a figure in my imagination.
Today’s society raises young women to conform to archaic practices with total disregard towards a child self-progression. In Barbie Doll poem by Marge Piercy it is portrayed a young girl who was attacked by society because of having unruly features on her appearance and body. To make clear, Piercy uses the title “Barbie Doll” in her poem to symbolize the cultural American traditions of making young girls live in a fairy tale world; where everything they see or do is perfect. The girl in this poem played with Barbie toys since she was little, but when she reached her puberty people started to criticize her of having imperfections on her face and body; which made her commit a really wrong decision for herself. In today’s society there are a large number of women having plastic surgery, because they do not feel comfortable or confident with their own appearances. Women are not just beauty queens and home makers; they should retreat from female stereotypes at a young age so they do not confront society pressure.
In Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" a young girl is troubled by the classification of what it takes to become a beautiful woman. "Barbie Doll" details the image that society projects upon women. From an early age young women struggle to conform to the standards that society has defined for them. Beautiful dolls such as Barbie are frequently the first source of association that young girls have with the image that society has placed upon them.
Everyday we see young girls look to idols such as people and even play toys. Such thoughts make young girls feel they are not good enough and to strive to look like a doll a very important topic is slightly broken down in an article written by Cynthia Tucker called Barbie Madness. While she touches on the topic of how kids love their toys such as Barbie dolls, she discusses how obsessed they become in looking like them. However, even though she points out that children look up to Barbies, she turns it back around on the parents, stating that they play a much bigger role in their lives than any toy would. Breaking down the article the writer really shows how children are influenced by their environment, their parents, and how its important to encourage them to be themselves.
The Barbie doll taught children that blonde and white was the ultimate key to beauty or fashion. This Barbie doll set unrealistic standards for girls of all ages; with her curvy frame, perfect boyfriend, and her extravagant belongings she led girls to believe that self-image is more important than frivolous objects. This skinny, curvy, white doll fabricated the futures
Why have America's perceptions of Barbie changed since 1959? Introduction //summary of the entire paper Barbie is a well-known doll from Mattel that has achieved worldwide fame in its lifetime of over 50 years(Barbiemedia.com, 2009). Its impact has been commented on by many professionals both economically as well as its impact on society mentally.
It wasn’t until the late 1960’s that critics began “comparing Barbie to a Playboy Bunny and calling her a corrupter of youth” (”Bad Girl” 3). One woman commented, “She’s an absurd representation of what a woman should be” (“Bad Girl” 3)-–and that’s exactly what many others thought she was, too. With such impossible real-life measurements of 5’9” tall, 36”-18”-33” bust, waist, and hip (Benstock and Ferriss 35), it’s easy to see why mothers across the country banned the doll from their homes and refused to let their impressionable young daughters be influenced by a piece of painted plastic (Bestock and Ferriss 35). Since dolls have often been responsible for teaching children what society deems important or beautiful, many concerned parents wondered why Mattel did not design a doll that taught more valuable lessons than dressing pretty and being dangerously skinny (Edut 19)? Who said a runway model was best suited for teaching a child what is beautiful anyway? “According to a Mattel spokesperson, a Kate Moss figure is better suited for today’s fashions” (Edut 19), and that is one reason why Barbie must be so disproportional. Actually, another reason for Barbie’s anorexic figure can be traced back long before Kate Moss and the fashion runway. Barbie was
Barbie, at the age of 41, is one of the longest living toys in America. Analyzing her early history can give a person a look into the societal trends and culture of the late 1950's and early 1960's. There is evidence of fashion innovations in Barbie's wardrobe. Also, one can see the perception of females by society, such as what they should look like, how they should act and dress, as well as what their future goals could be. The following essay follows Barbie's history from 1959 to 1963, covering her development, her appeal to children, and her existence as a cultural artifact of the time period.
Many children learn life skills from the toys they play with. Legos teach children how to build objects while following direction. Coloring books help kids with motor skills and creativity. Even basketballs, and footballs teach kids teamwork and physical endurance. Barbie dolls show girls that they have to be put together, wear heels, and have the perfect life with the perfect car and the perfect boyfriend. The old Barbie doll was very unhealthy in the way she looked, and this showed girls a bad example on what their bodies needed to look like. New Barbies are made to show what a healthy person should look like. They have new body types like curvy, short, and tall to show that not everyone looks the same. Old Barbies brought young girls’ confidence down because of their unhealthy body type, while new Barbies, with more body types, skin tones, and eye colors, boost girls’ confidence.