Barbie. The definition of an American girl’s childhood. Since her inception in 1959, Barbie has taken the world by storm. Many feminists, however, have been quick to hate on the plastic doll, saying that she gives little girls false expectations about their bodies, race, and teaches them to be vapid, vain, and selfish.
Argument 1: Barbie is too skinny.
I must give those who believe this to be true some (okay, a lot) of credit. She does promote an unrealistic, unhealthy image. But do little girls really care? I understand that Barbie helps to indoctrinate young children with the “thin is in” complex, as I call it, but by the time most girls start to care about their weight, Barbie’s been out of the picture for a while. Also, does Mattel send messages that Barbie’s success is all based on her body? I haven’t seen one.
Argument 2: Barbie sends bad messages about race.
Here’s a secret: Barbie is a blonde, blue-eyed teenage girl. Bet you didn’t know that! But in all seriousness, Barbie has a variety of friends, and they come in all different colors, they even have different head molds to better match some of the features of their respective races.
Argument 3: Barbie teaches girls to be vapid and vain.
The reasoning goes, “Barbie will teach girls to only care about their clothes, hair, and things they own!” Really? Barbie has been practically everything – doctor, teacher, even astronaut! And I don’t know about you, but I certainly didn’t get my love of material objects from Barbie. I think that just comes from being a seventeen-year-old girl. (Kidding! But not really.) Instead, Barbie taught me that I could be anyone I wanted to be.
So, do I think that Barbie is too thin? Yes. Do I think that makes her the epitome of all evil? No! There are many benefits to playing with dolls, including fostering a creative mind (mine still hasn’t gone away; I still regularly act out scenes from ‘books’ I’ve written in my head – shh, don’t tell anyone!). Barbie taught me that I could be anything I wanted to be. And that, as a woman, is the most important lesson to learn.
what happened to the day when you were little and just played with them without actually aiming to be like them? I guess pop culture can be blame a bit on this. Great blog by the way, discovered ya in IFB :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fasalisblog.com/
xx
When I had my babries, I had the usual blonde one but a chinese and black one as well. That was 10 years ago, so it's hardly promoting racism at all. Also, I had an entire box set on different job outfits that barbie could wear, it definatly showed me I can be whoever I want.
ReplyDeleteI love barbies, they were my childhood and hasn't mucked me over.
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Lauren Michelle
I really like Barbie, and when I was a little girl, I loved Barbie.....
ReplyDeleteas for being to skinny, she may be, but she is also just a doll, on the other hand child obesity is much more prevalent issue now than anorexia is, just look at the stats.... great post!
BerryHaute
Some very valid arguments! The way I see it, most little girls are perfectly able to take Barbie's body for the unrealistic fiction it is, or at least should be given the educational guidance that is needed anyway to remain as unfazed as possible by the body-negative statements society is sending us. I loved playing with Barbie dolls as a kid, I only disliked the predominantly pink hues in her wardrobe and surroundings, but I solved that problem by making my own furniture and clothing for my dolls!
ReplyDeletetotallly agree! <3 LOVE Barbie
ReplyDeleteXO Sahra
EffortlessCool
I completely agree with your post.Barbie is meant for entertainment for small girls.It is definitely NOT evil.It's tagline says,"Be who you want to be".That doesn't sound frivolous to me at all.Children love it,there is no way they suffer from inferiority complex through it.And why only Barbie? Next thing we know,they'll start saying Mickey Mouse gives us a wrong view about how the world works because their clubhouse is all magic-y.When we grow up,we learn what is true and what's not.What'right and what's wrong.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree. I played with Barbies endlessly and now I'm a body image activist. I believe body image problems come from the unrealistic images of REAL WOMEN in the photos with which girls and women are inundated daily, not from Barbie DOLLS. Barbie is a scapegoat for a multi-faceted, multi-level, systemic societal problem.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Love the photo as well!
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to show there are people who are way too serious! :)
Joy x
Great article! Bout time someone stood up for the girl.
ReplyDeleteThis is brilliant, short, sweet and straight to the point and an excellent point you make! Blog Roll worthy for sure :) Look forward to your future posts.
ReplyDeleteFantastic article. When ever i read/hear about someone talking about barbie I always think that the message i took was one of being able to do whatever I wanted. barbie was a vet, doctor and fashion designer all at once. she must have gone to university super early! As for the race issue, my sister actually preferred barbie's friend who was black Chrisy and used to specify that she wanted that doll.
ReplyDeleteanother thing i always think of is the phrase 'real women don't look like barbie'. by the time i was 15 I was still little girl skinny with long blonde hair and big boobs. and i felt that i must look 'fake' because 'real women don't look like barbie'. although I agree with the fact that photos of celebrities were worse for my body image.