What Is Barbie Behaviour Essay

When I began reading Chapter 1 of “Mistaking Africa,” it reminded me of our first class meeting. Professor Crowley asked us to do the same exercise Curtis Keim talks about in the text. Professor Crowley asked us what comes to mind when we think about Africa. It is a great exercise and allow us to express our perceptions of Africa. Even in class, it took me time to think about what comes to mind when I hear the word Africa, because I have not really heard much about it besides the common misconceptions: “Africa is a primitive place, full of trouble and wild animals, and in need of our help” (5). I frequently see the UNICEF commercial with Alyssa Milano, who asks her viewers how it would feel to be able to save a child’s life for fifty cents a day. The commercial precedes to play really depressing music and shows a slideshow of undernourished children, who fend for themselves in

I always thought Barbie was so cool; [as] I got older, I learned that it's impossible to be Barbie. She's been everywhere, [even] in outer space. She's the perfect blonde. She has the perfect blue eyes. She's like everything! If she was a real person she wouldn't be able to walk.” (Tara Kuther)

During the time of development and release of Barbie, the feminist movement was in full swing. The concept that Barbie may have been manufactured as a weapon against these feminist groups is plausible as the image of Barbie exploits the female body and challenges the values held by active feminists. Though, from a slightly different perspective, one could argue that Barbie with her freedoms and luxuries supports the ideals of women's equality and rights. Barbie may have been the transition piece of the decade, setting a new path for women and young girls.

The Barbie doll has been a popular play toy for young girls since the late 1950s. Although the Barbie doll seem like an innocent toy, it has had an effect on little girls’ body images. Many studies have shown an association between young girls playing with Barbies and eating disorders. Even grown women want to resemble Barbie so badly that they start to do surgery on their bodies which can be very dangerous. This has led to the term, Barbie Syndrome, which refers to “the drive, often of adolescent girls, to attain impossible standards of beauty, projected by toys—e.g., Mattel’s Barbie Doll—and the media, resulting in failure and frustration, issues related to body

Between America and other European nations, stereotypes and misrepresentations have ultimately plagued the continent of Africa. To every side there is often another story, yet unfortunately for the many countries of Africa, they are ultimately victimized and suffer through further oppression. According to Curtis Keim’s book Mistaking Africa, Keim suggests that Africa is essentially under the public microscope, it tends to be scrutinized, and compared to European nations and America. Keim elaborates on human natures need to group people, places, and things, which creates the theory of superiority or dominance over races, cultures, and even religions.

Cleaning out a barn, organizing a hoarder’s collection, painting a garage, hanging siding on a house, pouring concrete for a walkway, making meals for families--all projects promoting my life goal of helping make communities better and serving others, especially the less fortunate. I have been able to go on several mission trips with members of my church volunteering their efforts in completing helpful community projects where needed. These trips changed my life and made me a better person.

Sandra Cisneros’s short story, “Barbie-Q”, describes the life of a young girl never identified by name and the less-fortunate life she and her family lead. The child explains how new toys are a rare find, but she loves Barbies. While entailing the family’s trip to the local flea market, she and her sister find Barbie dolls with water and smoke damaged. The main girl states the flaws of the Barbie, but counters with the positivity of having any dolls to play with. Through this struggle, however, the girl learns to cope with the gender roles and standards set by her peers and neighbors, particularly for women. Cisneros writes with these ideas in relation to her own childhood, motivated by the social standards of gender roles and body image in relation to the Barbie.

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.

Africa has a caring community that is willing to share when someone is in need. “The wayfarers who stopped to smile, to sell us pineapples, to dig out our vehicle, to help us rebuild a bridge to let us pass. The villagers who welcomed us to their huts for a bowl of porridge, a glass of water” (Jones 294). Villagers often offered food and other supplies to Jones and Muggleton. They offered to help move their Land Rover and gave them food and water.

Another progressive Barbie, who stems from the “I can be” line, is Presidential Barbie. This is arguably the most progressive Barbie has ever been. There have been multiple Presidential Barbie’s all within third wave time period, however this paper focusing on the recent 2012 Presidential Barbie. Again, this Barbie is dressed conservatively, in a full pink suit, with the skirt landing below her knees and a jacket to cover up much of her skin. This Barbie also comes equipped with platform shoes, which allow her to stand on her own for the first time in fifty-three years. This demonstrates independence along with leadership, as she does not need someone to hold her up. The fact that she is running for President and in doing so has stability, speaks volumes to the kind of women this Barbie is trying to portray. Presidential Barbie has a platform in which she stands for which she titles the 5 ‘B’s’. They include, ‘B’ a dreamer, ‘B’ creative, ‘B’ informed, ‘B’ confident, and lastly ‘B’ involved. Barbie’s platform illustrates positive messages for young girls and their futures. Another progressive aspect of Presidential Barbie is that the creator, Mattel created this new doll in a partnership with The White House Project. The mission of The White House Project is to, “ignite the leadership of women in business along with politics” (thewhitehouseproject.org). The fact that Presidential

When people are growing up, they are bound to change a little; nonetheless, certain traits do not change from one’s childhood, but instead stay with them into their adulthood. Jacqueline Novogratz, the author of The Blue Sweater, told about her experience while living in Africa. When she was younger, she had had a promising job in Wall Street in New York before she quit and arrived in Africa. During her two years stay, she learned valuable things and became mature.

My fascination with Barbie dolls during my younger years foreshadowed what I would later consider my greatest source of misery. To the dismay of my “moderately conservative” town in the otherwise liberal state of New Jersey, I turned my back to G.I. Joe and cleats and gravitated toward 2002’s more glamorous icons: Barbie, Ken, and their collapsible mansion. My childhood went buy without much turmoil, but by the eighth grade, the “guys” (a group from which I was formally excluded after expressing no interest in hips, lips or curves) finally paid notice to the crack in my closet door.

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

Bill Cosby, an American comedian, once said, “Is the glass half full, or half empty? It depends on whether you are pouring, or drinking.” Nowadays, when one mentions of Africa, picture of a continent with a vicious cycle of war, poverty and hunger immediately appears in people’s mind. Thus, over the past 50 years, millions, trillions of dollars were sent to aid Africa from developed countries, or organizations. However, poverty and hunger still remain as issues as if nothing has changed. Trying to find the core reasons to this unchanging phenomenon, Good Fortune, a movie directed by Landon Van Soest, explores the disparity between the developers’ and the native’s perspective of needs in urban Africa as well as in rural areas, while explaining riots and chaos are formed due to lack of communication.

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.