It boggles my mind that Barbie is a role model to millions of young girls around the world, and the fact that it's been going on for over 50 years now. Why is Barbie such a sensation? Why is she one of the world's most popular children's toy and fascination? Well i certainly would love to know because i think that Barbie is the start of image problems and self esteem issues that later probablly result to bulimia and anorexia in those young girls that loved her when they grow up. Did you know if Barbie was a real women she's weigh 100 pounds, 6' foot tall, wear a size 4 and her measurements would be 39", 19" 33". Not to mention her organs couldnt even fit in to her body and her feet are so small she'd break them and couldnt even stand up let alone walk. So what message is this sending to girls? because every little girl wants to be barbie. She's beautiful always done up head to toe with makeup, jewelry and of course the best clothes. Now tell me this isnt materialistic and completely a horrible message to be sending to all the young girls out there who consider barbie their role model. Life in plastic isn't fantastic in my opinion im not a fan of barbie.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Life In Plastic It's Fantastic??
It boggles my mind that Barbie is a role model to millions of young girls around the world, and the fact that it's been going on for over 50 years now. Why is Barbie such a sensation? Why is she one of the world's most popular children's toy and fascination? Well i certainly would love to know because i think that Barbie is the start of image problems and self esteem issues that later probablly result to bulimia and anorexia in those young girls that loved her when they grow up. Did you know if Barbie was a real women she's weigh 100 pounds, 6' foot tall, wear a size 4 and her measurements would be 39", 19" 33". Not to mention her organs couldnt even fit in to her body and her feet are so small she'd break them and couldnt even stand up let alone walk. So what message is this sending to girls? because every little girl wants to be barbie. She's beautiful always done up head to toe with makeup, jewelry and of course the best clothes. Now tell me this isnt materialistic and completely a horrible message to be sending to all the young girls out there who consider barbie their role model. Life in plastic isn't fantastic in my opinion im not a fan of barbie.
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I couldn't have said it better myself....though I have always wondered the same thing. Even while I was going through my barbie phase, that I might ass lasted way longer than it ever should. I honestly don't have an answer as to why she is looked at as perfect, and now a days and the "Bratz" dolls...if they are even still popular. All the little girls are going to want to wear an obnoxious amount of makeup and have super big lips. Personally I want to know what goes through toy creator's minds to cause them to come up with an idea like Barbie or Bratz....and that's just the beginning of the list. I could go on for days thinking of toys that in the end...really aren't all that great for kids.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion life in plastic isn’t fantastic either but I am a big fan of Barbie. I don’t really believe that Barbie herself is a threat to young girls no not at all. It is the people who allow their young children to believe that they can actually be similar in the image of Barbie. For me growing up enjoying Barbie, she really encouraged me to dream big about life. The roles Barbie play is sometimes she’s a mom, doctor, nurse, school teacher, beautician and a veterinarian. She has a lot of roles that help female children grow into adults thinking about career opportunities. The parent’s who raise the children allow these images it’s definitely not Barbie herself because I am most confident with whom I am as female. I don’t want to be thin like BARBIE and I know the difference between reality and fairy tales. So is it really Barbie or just the media who broadcast Barbie to the world.
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ReplyDeleteI don’t believe that the media intended Barbie dolls to cause eating disorders and weight issues but it in fact is one the first source a girl see’s as her role model. I think that if we want to solve and minimize eating disorders in the U.S. we need to start with our media presented in childhood. One way would be to make the Barbie dolls more realistic and not have their waist lines the size of your pinkie finger. Childhood is when children start making expectations for them when they grow up so girls unconsciously get a distorted false image of what a woman should look like.
ReplyDeleteLife in plastic is how most women become. Think of how many get plastic surgery by the time their 18. Image distortion is a major problem is society today, more so for women. I have two son's and I thanked God for not giving me a girl just because I wasn't prepared to fight off the world when it came to making her into what she wanted to be and thought she could be. I also had to buy a present for my friend’s daughter for her birthday, what do I buy? I went up and down the aisles at the store and all I found were skinny dolls in very little clothing, or animals that had human tendencies, like makeup on. I found it very hard to get her something so I settled for a game "Memory." Barbie is a highly collected item like baseball cards, which is shocking to me. Barbie is a figment from a person's imagination and is idolized for her impossible image. I don't dislike Barbie but I don't agree with the image that she represents, why not make her more realistic and have more clothes on.
ReplyDelete"Life in plastic, its fantastic" definitely sends a bad message. Just as Kristine said, so many girls are getting plastic surgery now, as young as 18. And what about plastic surgery is fantastic? Surgery is scary, painful, and life threating! I feel Barbie is a good thing for children, and coming out with Barbie doctors and things like that do show young girls they can dream big. But Barbie really should have more realistic proportions to be sure not to send young girls the wrong message.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that the makers of Barbie would have intended to have her be the source of eating disorders and self-esteem problems in young girls. I used to play with Barbie almost my whole childhood. I know that I may be an exception to the rule, but I’m not a skinny girl and I don’t see any negative things that came from me playing with Barbie. I do agree that she is completely unrealistic and girls strive to be this skinny. I think that is partially a parent’s responsibility to monitor their children’s behavior. Parents should make it clear that Barbie is a doll and she is fake. I don’t think that Barbie should be blamed for all of these problems. There are many other influences out there that are far worse that Barbie’s body size.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that Barbie isnt flawless, at least no the one I grew up with. However, like Kay said the roles that Barbie performed also inspired little girls like me to grow up and be a Doctor or a Dentist. Im also happy that over the years Barbie has become a little more curvie and she actually has hips now, so at least they are trying to fix it.
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