Persuasive Essay Barbie Doll

The commonly held opinion of the fashion icon, Barbie, has contributed an impeccable standard for young girls--from the unhealthy body images for girls to the low self-assurance Barbie has brought upon them. To counteract the previous statement, with the help of Barbie’s many job titles, women 's equal rights and opportunities have flourished. The creator of Barbie, Ruth Handler, created her so that, “through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices,” (Mattel 2016) to serve a purpose as a role model to show kids to love themselves instead of trying to be like her.The unrealistic self image and lifestyle of glamour and riches were designed strictly for

Despite the controversy faced through the years Barbie is an ever relevant and popular toy for young children in America. The controversial topic of the matter being mostly dedicated to the appeal of whether Barbie sends a good message to kids, or not. What most people tend to overlook about Barbie is the reason and inspiration of her creation, the feminine cultivation she displays, and the diversity and positivity of her life and personality.

3. Barbie dolls came into existence in 1959. During that time all dolls were infant dolls and Ruth Handler creator of the barbie dolls saw that “children will enjoy giving the Barbie adult roles” because it is different than playing with infant dolls. It has evolved over time, due to the improving technology, the dolls these days look very realistic. The social impact it has made is that it gives children a chance to play with more advanced toys and gives them the ability to admire Barbie’s achievements through her various career

Barbie has possibly been the most famous doll in the world after her debut in 1959. She has represented fifty nationalities and has held over one hundred careers. Girls from age’s three to ten own at least one Barbie doll if not more. When people think of Barbie they think of a tall skinny supermodel

Prager worms her way into the reader’s emotions by using pathos. Barbie’s are apart of almost every average American girl’s life, with each one owning up to at least ten of the dolls by the time they reach eleven years of age (Mirror-Mirror). The reader’s emotions are unlocked by the author through the use of one simple word: Barbie. Just bringing up the subject of Barbie in an article will make a woman’s ears perk up and cause one to want to see what is being said about the precious childhood toy. Merely mentioning the doll brings many back to the simpler days of childhood and provides the reader with a sense of nostalgia. Prager puts the reader into the mindset of remembering what it was like to play with Barbie and her counterpart Ken, thus allowing the audience to also regain access to questions they may have had whilst playing with the dolls during their childhood as well. Sharing some of her own questions, Prager reveals that even as a ten year old she found Ken’s lack of genitals “ominous” in comparison to Barbie’s voluptuous figure (Prager 355). As aforementioned, the author mentions early on in the article that a man designed Barbie. The author correlates this as the reason why Barbie is portrayed so voluptuously whereas Ken is not. Prager begins to move beyond our emotions, and into the ethics surrounding the making of

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

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

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

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.

Most often, people will face numerous difficulties and challenges in their lifetime. These adversities impact and help play a role in shaping a person’s identity. People may view adversities as roadblocks that are impossible to overcome, while others view them as challenges that will only strengthen themselves. The overall effect of these adversities is the strengthening of a person's identity. People will gain more knowledge and therefore become strong in their identity. In the modern prose drama A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen demonstrates how adversities impact people. It also shows how people become stronger when they overcome the adversities placed before them. The adversities that Nora, Krogstad, and Mrs. Linde face

In the setting of “Barbie Doll,” by Marge Piercy, the narrator observes a growing girl in a culture that solely focuses on aesthetics, rather than the features that genuinely make up a woman. In Piercy’s “Barbie Doll,” the girl’s society overlooks a woman’s various qualities and true nature but instead, molds the woman to how society wishes to

In this essay I am going to be discussing and assessing how the ‘Barbie Doll’ which is a toy for children, mainly for girls has changed over the years since the 1900’s to the present generation and how this relates to other larger contexts like class, gender, race, disability and faith. Below I have inserted 2 pictures of the Barbie doll, One from 1959 and one from 2010, which is fairly recent.

Since her creation in 1959, Barbie has been a mainstream toy for young people in the U.S. In 1998, generally, young ladies in the U.s. claimed eight of these dolls and give or take two were bought consistently some place on the planet (Turkel, 1998). With every last bit of her notoriety and the determined part she plays in numerous young ladies ' lives, little research has yet been be carried out on whether she may have a hurtful impact on the advancement of the young ladies who cherish her.

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.