Does She Encourage Thinness?

This essay examines the question of whether the iconic Barbie lady (Barbie) ca use of goods and servicess young (5-8 year nonagenarian) filles to desire thinness, thereby detrimentally outleting their self-image. Barbie, introduced to the childrens grocery store in the 1950s, is a 9-inch doll created with what ar widely regarded as imaginary proportions. Concern oer the adverse raises of Barbie on children growing, Barbies symbol was recently changed to reflect, among other things, a lowlyer bust and wider hips. Nevertheless, the controersy let off remains Does Barbie contri exactlye to or even create negative dead body images in young girls?II. The Concerns Barbie as Destructive Force Concerned p bents and right women who themselves were affected by the body size and shape portrayed by Americas favorite doll have expressed maintenance or conviction that playing with Barbie dolls whitethorn or does lead to a panoply of image-related problems in the youth who play with t hem. Little best examples the detrimental results of Barbie on children than the reputed decision of one adult woman to request that a elastic surgeon recreate her body and face to mirror Barbies.When examined closely, however, the woman and, eventually, nightclub learned that Barbie, if created as a human being, would have feet too small to balance her body on, breasts too large to be supported by her tiny waist, and hips bidly too narrow to bear children. Indeed, Barbie could literally never exist in reality. At core, those opposed to Barbie for image-related reasons posit that girls at curiously vulnerable ages are easily impressed upon by the doll they come out to not further play with, but idealize. Those girls wish not only to do all the things Barbie does become an astronaut or doctor but look like her.While becoming an astronaut or doctor are attainable goals for most if not all young girls, achieving Barbies looks is not. Were Barbie not significant, she would in fact have little if any effect over her fans. III. wherefore They Have Their Point Though Barbie may not be responsible for the destructive force many attribute to her, concerned parents and fountain Barbie fans do have their point Women do not look like Barbie dolls. Though an ultimate compliment may be, Youre so sanely you look like a Barbie, in reality Barbie paints a record of women that does not accurately reflect nature.For children incidently, impressions are easily made at tender ages, when bodies have yet to develop and knowledge is limited. Therefore, the five- or six-year hoar child, who has little reason to know otherwise, testament be prone to evaluate Barbies encounter and appearance as a genuine condemnation of what she will one day become. The detrimental effects may be especially harsh on children without mothers or sisters in their lives, or children in families who perpetuate negative self-images via perpetual dieting or other behaviors.For those chi ldren the ones who arguably need the most direction they may look to Barbie for more(prenominal)(prenominal) and as a result shape their own self-images around her. IV. Anti-Barbie A discipline Assumption Underlying the Barbie dissenters opinion is the assumption that Barbies fans are easily impressionable and that Barbie has enough power in their lives to effect self-perception. Little argument can be made as to the agent assumption (few would dispute that 5-year-olds are easily manipulated) and, though there is inhabit for doubt as to the latter proposition, popularity attests to Barbies frontrunner status in the childrens market.Year by year, Barbie is consistently a favorite among young girls, and over magazine has evolved from teen fashion model to wife to mother to career woman. throughout all, her figure has remained unscathed, sending the perhaps subconscious message to the girls who idealize her that they, too, will look forever young and thin no matter how old they grow or how differently their bodies may be made. It is Barbies endure popularity that makes her so central a figure in the lives of so many. V. Why Barbie Works Despite Her FlawsDespite criticism, Barbie may in fact little disability a young girls self-image. She is, after all, just a doll. Few girls are told, or even given the suggestion, that Barbie is a true reflection of womens bodies or lives. Barbie no more accurately reflects womens bodies than does Ken accurately reflect mens, and she is not designed to. Barbie, rather, is a tool of escape. Children of ages five, six, and even eight and ten seldom if ever would be found focusing on Barbies proportions or dress size. They, rather, use her as a tool with which to engage in fantasy.Beyond this, while Barbie may be the most popular girls play, she is far from the most determinative work out on a young womans self-image. Most girls cave in Barbie play well before their adolescence, the time when most young women let down f ocusing on and comparing their bodies with others. The force of baseball club on a girls self-image cannot be underplayed. To assign Barbie with greatly influencing a girls view of her body when she is bombarded with images of real girls in popular refining who are unnaturally thin (on television, in magazines, in film) is to assign to her more importance than she in fact has.While Barbie lives in the world of fantasy and toy, images of super-thin models and women abound in an adolescents very real world in the magazines she reads and on the television programs she watches. In many instances, the superstars and celebrities she looks up to are unnaturally thin and encourage her to dislike her own body. Perhaps more importantly, a young girls friends and family likely have far more influence on a girls perception of herself than Barbie.If a girls mother is comfortable with her body, she will likely affect similar comfort in her daughter. If, in contrast, a girl grows up hearing her mother perpetually complain that she (the mother) is fat or otherwise inadequate, she may well internalize such thought process and rehearse it to herself. Peers, too, who complain that their bodies are inadequate in one form or another may cause self-doubt in a girl. VI. A Balance Healthy Barbie Though Barbie may not have the effect on her fans that her critics assign to her, itis likely that she does have some influence over her audience. Barbie, a staple of the toy world, doubtless plays her part in society and in shaping the goals, values, and self-images of those who play with her. To some extent, Mattel, Barbies creator, has recognized and seek to remedy some of the potential damage Barbies surreal figure may do on young girls by slightly changing her mold. Mattel, however, can do only so much, and even the doll sell today paints a false picture of what most girls will mature to look like.Short of Mattel creating a Barbie that comes in all different shapes and sizes, pa rents in particular can use their influence to minimize any ill-effects Barbie may potentially have. Children should be taught that bodies do not come in standard sizes, and that it is important to have a positive view of yourself no matter how you are built. For some households, this may entail limiting or completely erasing Barbie from the toy mixture. More ideal, however, would be to tell children that they are beautiful and fine, and that Barbie is what she is marketed as just a toy.