Barbie Doll Essay

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.

In fact, “...Barbie is so exceptionally thin that her weight and her body proportions are not only unattainable but also unhealthy”( Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive 283). This fact creates potentially dangerous situation for young girl to be influenced to emulate an unattainable body type. One particular research study conducted by Helga Dittmar, Emma Halliwell, and Suzanne Ive in 2006, found out that young girls, ages 5 to 8-years-old, who were exposed to Barbie, experienced self-esteem and body issues. “This is the first study in which an experimental exposure paradigm has been used with young children, thus offering a methodologically rigorous examination of Barbies as a cause of girls’ feeling of unhappiness with their bodies and their desire to be thinner” (Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive 283). When 162 U.K girls, ages 5 to 8, were given picture books with either no pictures of bodies whatsoever, images of Barbies, or images of Emme (a doll with realistic body proportion), they young girls who looked at the books were more unhappy with their body image than those girls who read Emme or non body books (Diep par.4-5). Their study did not find these same finding in the oldest girl, however the evidence that Barbie is not influencing this younger population of girls, still points to the need for some type of change as this early pattern of looking up to an unrealistic body image

As a child, every girl dreamed of having a Barbie, but as an adult, I don’t think that was the maker’s objective to become an actual Barbie. “These skeptics in the Barbie debate view Barbie as a toy, stating that she does not have power or influence over little girls or grown women” (Virasin).

The poem, "Barbie Doll," written by Marge Piercy tells the story of a young girl growing up through the adolescence stage characterized by appearances and barbarity. The author uses imagery and fluctuating tone to describe the struggles the girl is experiencing during her teenage years, and the affects that can happen. The title of this poem is a good description of how most societies expect others, especially girls to look. Constantly, people are mocked for their appearance and expected to represent a "barbie-doll"-like figure. Few are "blessed" with this description. The female gender is positioned into the stereotype that women should be thin and beautiful. With this girl, the effects were detrimental. The first stanza describes the

Unfortunately, it also is highly unattainable and instills unrealistic goals in girls’ minds. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, there are up to 24 million people suffering from eating disorders and 86% of those are under the age of 20 (anad.org). That being said, negative adverse effects are often the results of our world placing the upmost importance on body image. At Radboud University, Doeschka Anschutz and Rutger Engels conducted an experiment designed to test the effects of playing with thin dolls on body image and food intake in 6-10 year old girls. After splitting the girls into three different groups where they either played with a thin doll, an average sized doll or a slightly oversized doll, as seen in figure one, the results yielded that indeed there were significant differences between the girls’ body image and food intake which was completely dependent on which doll they played with (Anschutz, Engels 625). For example, a girl that played with the thinnest doll, the Barbie Doll, consumed the least amount of food following playtime when girls that played with either the average sized doll or even slightly larger doll consumed significantly more food. This experiment explicitly highlights the unknown dangers associated with playing with Barbie Dolls at a young age. Immediately the doll caused young girls to see themselves as ‘too big’ or

The Poem “Barbie Doll (1969)” by Marge Piercy describes the life of a young girl who fell victim to society’s idea of beauty. Marge Piercy was a known social activist and uses this poem to bring attention to serious issues facing young females in society. “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy is a narrative poem; the poem is written in free verse. The author selects a free form of poetry and other devices to help get her point across.

Beauty standards in America are always changing and continuously on the rise due to society’s constant obsession with the perfect body image. This image is built upon the things we see in movies, television shows, and magazines, which causes girls to feel the need to look flawless and set far-fetched goals for their physical appearance. Today’s era marks tall, skinny and flawless faces as beautiful, and if girls don’t have any of these attributes, they truly believe that they aren’t as beautiful and will do whatever it takes in order to obtain that beauty. In today’s ever-so-demanding society, social media, flawless models, and pressure from not only peers but from family as well, have all implemented a negative impact

Television, billboards, magazines, and advertisements influence women’s insecurities about their bodies while also suggesting how young girls and women can make their bodies more beautiful and attractive than they naturally are. As David Garner notes, “Forty-three percent of women report that ‘very thin or muscular models’ make them feel insecure about their weight” (par.42). Just as the media portray the image of a perfect woman, Barbie dolls glamourize a perfect body shape which is unattainable by women and young girls. Of course, some females try to be “perfect” like the models portrayed in the media, but the aftermath is severely damaging. The Internet and social media is another medium that pressures women and young girls to become anorexic and bulimic.

Beauty Isn't Everything The beautifully touching poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy, made me recognize a predominate issue that has been around for ages. Which is, that in our society, there has and always will be the desire, especially for women, to appear perfect on the outside. There is simply too much pressure and concern for women to give in and try to look as perfect as a Barbie doll ( which is physically impossible by the way).

Seeing the perfect Barbie figure brings a deeper realization to how far someone may be from this ideal look, causing many health issues on the interior as well. In the article “Epidemic of Body Hatred” written by the site Dying to Be Barbie, writes about the stress and anxiety that even children face to avoid being “overweight” and how this leads to many eating disorders and unhealthy children. Their research showed that after having their own Barbie and being apart of an image-based society that “hundreds of more children, aged 5 to 9, have undergone treatment for their eating disorders” (Dying to Be Barbie). The image that Barbie portrays influences children to the extreme and affects them most when they are at an age where they are in need of guidance to be happy with who they are. Instead of being happy with themselves, they look at what society and Barbie pushes them to be.

Barbie dolls give a false impression of beauty to young girls and even older women. Since 1959 (when Barbie was created) young girls are subject to the idea of tall, thin, and properly proportioned to be beautiful. The problem is Barbie’s proportions are physically unobtainable. According to Huffington Post, “if Barbie was an actual women she would be 5’9” tall, have a 39” bust, an 18” waist, 33" hips and a size 3 shoe…she likely would not menstruate... she 'd have to walk on all fours due to her proportions” (Gregoire 1). A real woman needs to be twenty-four inches taller, take 6 inches off her waste, and add 5 inches to her chest (Gregoire 1). Below is what

“ The media needs to take responsibility for the effect it has on our younger generation....why aren’t we regulating things like calling people fat”(Lawrence)? The actress Jennifer Lawrence expressed her opinion on what she believes, that the media is responsible for the damaging body image that has affected the younger generation. Considering this, recently there have been more studies and research on what has formed this ideal body.Also, the research conducted uncovered that the famous doll Barbie is one of the main reasons for the desire to have an unrealistic body. The negative body image in female adolescents has been affected by the influence of impossible body types in the media such as the doll “Barbie” and characters in popular

A recent shocking study has shown that even girls from the age of 5 have started worrying about there size and appearance. 1 in 10 seven year olds have tried to lose weight at least once (Bates 2&3). Characters on tv can have an immense role in little kids life. As they get older they start to see that maybe it’s not all fun and games. Even from an early age, kids notice that cartoon characters and Barbies are skinnier and pretty and not as realistic as things in real life (Herbozo). When exposed to all of the images of dolls, all ages of girls get the impression of an unrealistic body expectations. Additionally, these exposures can also often lead to an eating disorder in young girls and sometimes have them develop a false sense of hope when it comes to their looks and

With a perfect face, long blonde hair, permanent makeup, and a tight waist; Barbie is teaching girls that this is an acceptable standard of beauty. An article on Daily Mail UK’s website, Barbie’s proportions are broken down to outline how she would look as a real woman. If Barbie were life size and human, she would have a thirty-eight inch bust, sixteen inch waist with room for only half a liver or a few inches of intestines, and would have to walk on all fours due to her six inch ankles and top heavy distributions. When looking at the big picture, Barbie is the furthest thing from perfect. Nina Golgowski continues in the article, “In addition to comparing Barbie’s body proportions to the average American woman’s, it also compares them to the average anorexic woman.”

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