Mattel's: Gender Objectification Of American Girls

In the article “Klaus Barbie, and Other Dolls I’d Like to See,” Susan Jane Gilman talks about how we create this doll that sends a message to girls that they have to look a certain way. Gilman talks about how Barbie sets the standard that girls have to be a tall, skinny, blonde, blue eyed, straight, white female (Gilman). It tells girls that if they were anything else, they were never going to be pretty enough or accomplish much because they do not look like the ideal woman. At another point in the article, Gilman talks about how Barbie has introduced other dolls that are different races but are only limited edition (Gilman). With these limited edition Barbie dolls, it furthers the fact that people who are not the stereotypical Barbie, are not as good. Since this ideal woman is now within the

As I was on the hunt for the perfect gift for an 8 year old’s birthday, I discovered the doll market is quite different than my coming of age. Undoubtedly, Barbie is still problematic, but now she has competitors, including Bratz, and Monster High dolls, who are noticeably thinner than barbie and dressed up to look like grown women getting ready for a night of clubbing than a game of tennis. As I pick up the first doll box, I find a doll chained up in a slither of clothing with a blank expression on her face, a prominent thigh gap, with the tagline “GREAT for girls ages 5 and up!” By all means, I never imagined in my life that I would miss Barbie. For that reason, I begin to sit myself down in the toy aisle to start googling everything I could about these dolls on my

Toys and sports also promote gender appearances. Male appearances are characterized by being physically fit, strong and aggressive whereas females are to be beautiful, feminine and nurturing. Jane Smiley describes Barbie as being slender, stylish and most of all popular. Barbie is often dressed in pink and wears make up. Models in today’s society fit this description which makes other females want to achieve the same look. The appearances for females set by society‘s norms are presented in toys that gives off the message that ‘if you do not look like this’, it is considered unattractive. “Frilly, sexy, pink, purple, bedizened, and bejewelled were the preferred Barbies,” (Smiley 238) shows that females should have these characteristics in order to be seen as

The first of many changes being the introduction of the first official African-American Barbie and Latina Barbie, both of which were not released until 1980, twenty years after the first Barbie was released. This year the newly-released 2016 ‘Barbie Fashionistas’ are available in four body types, seven skin tones and 22 eye colours addressing long-time criticism that the dolls did not accurately reflect the modern woman. This change means more representation for women of colour, more representation of a normal female body type, teaching young girls that white is not default and anorexia is not beautiful. This links back to the much needed change in social thinking and the popularity of healthy lifestyles and colour representation in 2016. Barbie has begun to represent women outside the thin, white, blonde archetype and represent women as a diverse set of individuals, appealing to a wider range of consumes and the new trend in pop culture. Barbie has reinforced pop culture over time as she has managed to change in response to the opinions of society, whether or not she agreed with the change.

What was that one doll every little girl just had to have growing up? What doll made little girls obsess with perfection? What doll set the unrealistic standards for girls starting at ages three or four? Barbie is a children’s toy that was first introduced to the market in 1959. Barbie was the perfect role model for all girls. She was perfectly skinny, had a perfect boyfriend and family, perfect hair, perfect house, perfect everything, but her existence is completely ironic. Although Mattel, creator of Barbie, attempts to make Barbie absolute perfection, all her imperfect buyers are wondering why they cannot look like the beautiful doll. She is responsible for the diminishing young girls’ self-confidence. Lisa Belkin believes girls in today’s society cannot comprehend what true beauty is because they were so entranced with the idea of Barbie in her online article “Banning Barbie.” Barbie should be pulled off the shelves immediately. Barbie’s looks, actions, and lust for materialistic objects are the blame for the degeneration of assurance in young girls and women.

Since the late 1950s, Barbie has come to represent the idealized American woman. She is tall, slender, and blonde. For most, this body type is unattainable and unrealistic. Woman come in all shapes, sizes, and hair colors. Who decided that Barbie was going to be the perfect woman? Obviously, not the vast majority of women that do not fit the Barbie-standard. This 1950s standard should not be what little girls think they should look like in 2016. Little girls need a broader example of achievable beauty.

As such, most girls’ childhood stories are filled with their experiences with Barbie such as making Barbie their number one companion by always having her wherever they go, cutting off her long blonde hair, and feeling devastated if a sibling or a playmate ripped Barbie’s head off. Moreover, whether Americans are willing to accept it or not, the Barbie has significantly transformed American culture in so many diverse and subtle ways to comprehend fully. Although some have sweet nostalgic memories about Barbie, most girls’ lives have been negatively affected by beholding Barbie as a major female icon during their childhood (Battistoni 26). Despite being a mere plastic toy, to the young girls, the Barbie life is all they ever want and strive to be in life; hence, most use Barbie as the guiding standard against which they have to measure and assess their lives on all spheres. Nonetheless, since attaining the Barbie blonde status in real life is an elusive endeavor, most girls have subjected themselves to immense pain leading to poor mental health and low self-image. This is because they are convicted

Young Girls look up to many people as role models, one role model that plays an immense part in their lives is Barbie. Barbie is defined as being pretty, beautiful, and even perfect. But is she really that wonderful as she seems? Her body shape is completely inaccurate representation of the female body and people get easily influenced by these unrealistic standards. If no one steps up to help young girls realize that Barbie is not perfect then they will have dissatisfaction with themselves forever. Body dissatisfaction is becoming more and more popular and one reason is that Barbie presents an unrealistic body image that affects young girls and their idea of a perfect life.

Toys like Barbie Dolls already send a complicated message to our kids about femininity, but when the Sports Illustrated magazine’s Swimsuit edition partnered with Barbie’s maker, Mattel, to feature Barbie in a bikini spread, the world got a blurred message of what the doll really stood

Since it was first introduced to U.S. toy markets back in 1959 (Abramson 2009), the commercially successful Barbie doll has historically solidified its legacy in American consumer culture. It is every little girl’s rite of passage to be old enough to finally receive a Barbie. Although the gifting of a Barbie can be an exciting moment for children, its effects on their body images can leave lasting detrimental damage to their self-esteem. These damages often manifest themselves in multidimensional ways, with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia, being highly common examples. It may seem incredulous one doll can engender so much turmoil in a child’s life, but several developmental psychologists have demonstrated that the unrealistic body expectations espoused by Barbie have permanent implications for young girls’ developmental trajectories.

After reading this article, I am happy to know that Mattel has made many changes to their Barbie dolls. The original Barbies were usually WAY out of proportion such as small waists, large breasts, and incredibly long legs. Not to mention that most Barbies were blonde haired and blue eyed. To top it all off, the Barbies were always seen wearing overly fancy clothes. This set the impossible goal for little children to look like this. Setting such an impossible is terrible for children because not being able to reach their goal can cause a child to berate themselves. Children should be able to be proud of their skin and eye color. They also should feel like they are not beautiful if they are not wearing a dress. No one who is a normal kid person

As many feminists would like to argue, Barbie is taking a toll on young women’s confidence by bringing up unreasonable and unachievable expectations regarding looks, encouraging infinite consumerism, excluding any bodies out of the gender binary and a terror for aging. In the article “Action Figures and Men” there has been a same approach about Barbie’s unattainable body and lifestyle, alongside with G.I. Joe and wolverine who have unrealistic body measurements and affect young boys’ self-esteem same way as Barbie does to girls. As we read in The Anthropometry of Barbie, she is a doll made to portray the ‘good girl’ image; she is sexy, smart, rich, and extremely ambitious. Barbie teaches girls more than just to be pretty and an ‘eye candy’, as

Barbie has had the influence on kids from a young age that in order to be beautiful, you had to have the perfect hair, clothes, and makeup. Children all over the world wanted to be like Barbie and look like her. This can lead to kids not being who they are and have bad low self- esteem issues. They didn’t look the ‘ideal look’ of Barbie. Many scientists believe that Barbie is to blame for young girls’ low self-esteem and negative body image.

Various sources indicate that female body images presented through models, mannequins, and even Barbie dolls are strikingly deviant from the actual female form. One such example occurs in the January 1998 issue of Marie Claire magazine, which states that the average American woman is 5’4” and a size 12. She has a 37-inch bust, a 29-inch waist, and 40-inch hips. A mannequin is 6 feet tall, a size 6, with measurements of 34-23-34. A life-size Barbie doll would be 7’2,” with bust, waist, and hip measurements of 40-22-36, respectively. A woman of these measurements would have to walk on all fours to balance her disproportionate body. Considering that Barbie’s physical characteristics are outrageous and ultimately unattainable, how has she come

Recently Barbie launched a new campaign promoting empowering girls to be anything they want to be. The viral spot created by BBDO brings the idea that Barbie helps to inspire children for the future. In my opinion, BBDO’s project was made in an insightful and holistic way because the concept and the execution work together and speak exactly to the target audience.