Summary: The Influence Of Barbie On Gender Identity

Dolls before Barbie were designed incorporating the ideals of a mans era and the conformity of a women's role in the world. Barbie may have set the stage for the 1960's generation by exposing the youth to verity and free choice. Yet there is another matter in which Barbie may flawed.

In the book coming up short, Jennifer Silva passionately speaks to 100 people in-depth, about why young adults are having such a hard time transitioning to adulthood in the society that we live in today. The interviews vary from men to women, white to black, and are ranged within the ages of twenty-four to thirty-four. Silva compares the different generations, and how they have different ways of growing into adulthood, and how they have to re-imagine adulthood. Highlighted is the fact that economic insecurity is affecting the ability to connect with others, get an education, make certain choices, and follow certain dreams. Silva writes: "experiences of powerlessness, confusion, and betrayal within the labour market, institutions such as education and the government, and the family teach young working-class men and women that they are completely alone, responsible for their own fates and dependent on outside help at their peril. They are learning the hard way that being an adult means trusting no one by yourself." Silva states that young working-class are going through many more struggles, and going through those struggles in a more difficult way than previous generations did to simply become an adult. “Whatever happens next, happens, and I will deal with it when it happens.” are one of the ways an interviewee is dealing with this problem, and quite frankly it is also my perspective.

Barbie's got a bad reputation. All that is really focused on is her looks. This defeats the purpose of the entire concept of the doll herself, and it goes to show just how women (even of the rubber/plastic type) are portrayed in the public eye. Actions figures aren’t exactly only looked at for their rock-hard abs and meaty arms, but seen for their strength, courage, and all around manliness. This brings us to a double standard, but that’s another essay topic in

In conclusion, Barbie’s changing fashions, interests and views have altered in response to suit pop culture throughout the years. Barbie is a physical personification of popular culture throughout the years, and she has grown to fit the world around her, to change with the ‘fads’ and ‘fashions’ of the time. However in some cases it seems as though she has transgressed us on some levels. Barbie is a palpable representation of the amount of change that has taken place over the decades, a change in social thinking, social constructs, fashion and beauty. The Barbie doll is the perfect representation of popular

The author stated “if you didn’t look like Barbie you didn’t fit in …. you were less beautiful, less valuable, less worthy.” It is a doll! I don’t believe that Barbie can significantly sway and influence girls’ ideals about themselves, self-worth, and their value in this world. I think maybe there is some contribution there to a girls thinking, but Barbie alone can’t do that much damage. I grew up playing with Babies, Dawn Dolls, Kittles,

Barbie’s marketing strategies are intended to give girls an adult female representation to teach little girls how to become beautiful and feminine, she is more of a negative role model for young girls rather than simply being a toy. Messages that the doll projects for little girls teaches them to be grown and prepares them for roles as female adult consumers. Dolls in the early ‘50s and ‘60s came with accessories and garments that heavily symbolized things of adulthood.

When the dolls were first sold, Mattel used the slogan “We girls can do anything”. Since then it has been joined by similar phrases like “Be anything. Do everything.” and the more recent “What happens when girls are free to imagine they can be anything?” The message that Mattel is trying to push is that young girls will play with the doll, and by doing so will imagine themselves living vicariously through Barbie. There have been many iterations of Barbie, and Mattel proudly flaunts all the various careers that Barbie has had over the decades. Careers that include being an astronaut, firefighter, nurse, teacher, and even the president of the United States. Yet the most popular, perhaps the stereotypical image of Barbie, is the one first

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

As a young girl the fondest memory was playing with all my Barbie dolls and having the time of my young youth. Getting new Barbie’s for my birthday and Christmas was the highlight for my friends and I every year, and comparing which dolls the others got with each other. Never once growing up did any of us feel that Barbie was bad for us to play with, or that she was a bad role model. She could be anything that she wanted to be and her friends were all different too. Barbie was just a doll that we could make say what ever we wanted to, and we let our imaginations make each doll have their own personality. Our mothers played with them when they were our age and turned out pretty well, and no one that I have

As soon as Barbie was introduced to the public, her mature body horrified many adult females. Mothers said they would not allow their child to play with Barbie because they were wary of her sex appeal. Mattel conducted a study with mothers and daughters before they introduced Barbie. Barbie's sexy

Since the beginning of time, toys have often been an indicator of the way a society behaves, and how they interact with their children. For example, in ancient Greece, artifacts recovered there testify that children were simply not given toys to play with as in the modern world. The cruel ritual of leaving a sick child on a hillside for dead, seems to indicate a lack of attention to the young (Lord 16). The same is true of today’s society. As you can see with the number of toy stores in our society, we find toys of great value to our lives and enjoy giving them to children as gifts. Ask just about any young girl what she wants for Christmas and you’ll undoubtedly get the same answer: “A Barbie.” But what exactly has caused

Barbies have changed a lot over the years. Not just Barbies, but kids toys and dolls have made drastic improvements and advancements. The first toy can be traced back to ancient Greece in 10th century B.C. Dolls can be traced back even further. Since then, these plastic toys, specifically Barbies, have affected the body images of little girls. If Barbie was life size, she would be 5’9” and weigh only 110 pounds. Her body’s fat percentage would be so low that she wouldn’t be able to walk or even live a healthy life. Barbies are a positive and negative influence on young girls. She shows them that they can do whatever job they want, but on the other hand, she represents what our society thinks is the “perfect” body.

Ever since the creation of Barbie in 1959, the doll has been a frontrunner in children’s entertainment. The doll’s humble beginning has progressed until Mattel can now claim, with very good reasoning, that one Barbie Doll is sold every two and a half seconds. Considering the doll’s popularity, one has to wonder how a toy that popular is effecting the children who play with the doll. Some people claim that Barbie encourages young girls to be the best they can be. Others believe that Barbie is merely a toy, and that the doll has no impacts on the child’s life at all. The truth of the matter is that Barbie can have very serious negative effects on how young girls will grow up to view their physical appearance as well as their value as human beings.

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:

However, that isn’t true, Barbie is playing a huge role in eating disorders in women. It’s estimated that 8 million people have eating disorders and that only 10 to 15% are men and the rest are women. Out of that percentage, 80% of the women are below twenty. Author of “The Barbie Effect” says, “Many admitting that they started worrying about their weight when they were between the age of four and six years old. That is around the age that a girl usually gets her first Barbie doll, and many of the girls who have or had an eating disorder admitted that Barbie played a huge role on their influences in behavior and looks.” (“The Barbie Effect”) Another example would be a victim of an eating disorder, Galia Slayen, and how she created a ‘Real Life’ Barbie doll to raise awareness. Slayen had created it out of chicken wire and some other things from the store to make her according to the statistics of what Barbie’s size would actually be like if she was real. Slayen was feeling pressured by her peers and with the obsession for perfection that she had had since a young age. After it all, Slayen said, “Despite her appearance, Barbie provides something that many advocacy efforts lack. She reminds of something we once loved, while showing us the absurdity of our obsession with perfection.”