Persuasive Essay: Should Barbie Get A Makeover?

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Barbie, Mattel’s Iconic Doll, is a doll that allows children to imagine their futures. Back when Barbie first appeared on the shelves, she was blonde wearing a black and white stripped swimming suit. Today, Barbie Dolls have many different careers and ethnicities. Barbie getting from point A to B wasn’t easy, since she had a life filled with controversy. Should Barbie get a makeover? I feel that if this question is rearranged to say, ‘Should Barbie get a makeover to become what society believes to be ‘average’ or ‘normal’, the answer becomes clear, no. Barbie’s human body size characteristic may be unrealistic, but the doll isn’t a human shrunk down to play size. For instance, in the movie “Life-Sized” a girl’s doll comes to life. While it may be that in this movie the doll had a hard time adapting to life as a human, she eventually got the gist of having a career and living life the way everyone wanted …show more content…

For this, I am most certain that Barbie doesn’t need a makeover. If Barbie needs a makeover, shouldn’t every girl featured in Sports Illustrated also get a makeover? Or should Sports Illustrated always use the same girl? No, both would be ridiculous, because there is not one kind of beautiful, there are many. The fact that Barbie was unapologetic, gives the doll a confidence in who she is. That is a message I would happily pass on to my children. I believe that the “Imagine the Possibilities” advertisement repositioned the Barbie brand in consumer’s mind. The advertisement showed how children interacted with the doll, as well the real life version of their imaginations. Also the commercial focused on the idea of the Barbie’s tagline “You can be anything.” This is really important, because this idea is what Barbie always stood for, it just got lost in all the controversy surrounding the doll throughout the

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