“Life in plastic, it’s fantastic!”

So what you’re telling me is that my childhood favorite toy is damaging young girl’s self-esteem?

At the tender age of 5, I remembered received my very first Olympic swimming Barbie doll in response to the Sydney Olympic Games 2000. I thought all dolls looked like that. I remember hating on one of the dolls for having long legs. The struggles to put on tight skinny jeans was a nightmare for a 5 years old me. I guess that was back in my times.

Fast-forward 14 years later, Barbie is blamed for body image issues and even worse eating disorder.

Barbie may just be a plastic unrealistic doll but young girls at the tender age of 10, keeping in mind may or maybe not be going through puberty yet are striving to achieve a dangerously thin physical appearance.

Barbie is owned by 99% of 3-10-year-old girls around the world and is the most requested on young girls Christmas wish list for over 55 years.

However, the question, Is Barbie’s body shape an unrealistic representation of a girl? Should parents continue to go ahead and purchase a Barbie doll for their daughter?

Researchers have highlighted that Barbie’s body represent less than 1 in 100,000 adult women with a 20cm smaller waist than an anorexic patient. With a measurement like this, realistically, Barbie would not be able to hold her head up or menstruate.

Is this the image we want the next generation to believe is socially acceptable?

 

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A.L.

 

The Conversation. (2014). Is Barbie bad for body image?. [online] Available at: http://theconversation.com/is-barbie-bad-for-body-image-33725 [Accessed 10 Sep. 2016].