Barbie Stereotypes

Throughout the decades, the shaming of a woman’s body has become much more influential on how young girls and adult women see themselves. Society creates the image of the ‘perfect women’ based on body curvature and other extremities. The use of social media is usually blamed for warping the minds of females based upon body image, but that is just one small factor of it. Companies are even making mirrors that adjust the appearance of a person’s body, such as creating slimmer waists and longer legs. Dolls, such as the Barbie, made by Mattel, have also have created an unrealistic image of how a real woman should look like. Young girls first get introduced to Barbie dolls as a way to be entertained, but as most girls grow out of the doll playing stage, they start to worry more about the way they look.

In the article, “Inventing Barbie”, paragraph one it states that Mattel’s doll, Barbie, was introduced in February of 1959 by founders, Ruth and Elliot Handler. Ruth originally thought of the idea while her daughter, Barbara, was playing with paper dolls. She realized that as her daughter grew older and began to imitate adult conversations and the world around her, she needed a three-dimensional

representation of it as well. She shared her idea of a doll with a woman's figure with her husband and the all-male executive team at Mattel, but they refused and said that it would be too expensive to produce and the retail price would have to be higher than what buyers expected.
“Inventing Barbie” also mentioned The Lilli doll, Germany’s version of a modeled that was modeled after a character in a German comic strip, but she was not as innocent as Ruth wanted to capture the all- American image. It was Mattel’s job at that time to create and fix an original version of the doll. Mattel finally ended by changing the lips, the hairline, and cosmetics of the Lilli into a quintessential American teenager and created a doll to change every little girl’s dream of the future. Barbie appeared at a time when the term "teenager" was a supposed to be known as a “new and sexy” one. The United States had been through two world wars and a depression, and the fifties presented a time for young adults to come into the limelight. The invention of Barbie shook emotions as the public was unsure if they were ready for a doll to replicate a woman’s figure.
Regardless of whether Barbie was doing, like cooking or socializing, she started to make an impact in little girl’s lives. The many activities Barbie was doing were what the society expected from women. In paragraph five of “Inventing Barbie” The Barbie doll is said to have earned a high degree of respectability, even though in 1959 women were not treated with adequate respect, and she became a figure the girls wanted to emulate. Barbie was not only a fashion model, but she could be a sophisticated woman and also a homemaker. Ruth Handler envisioned having each child create their own unique personality for the doll, however, Barbie began to have an identity of her own.
The name brand toy “Barbie” started as a toy made for young children. Barbie dolls are posed with the women structure along with blond hair, big breasts, unrealistic long legs and the latest in sunglasses, but do not forget the flashy sports cars. When Barbie was first introduced, she never got pregnant, fat, or old (Grassel, 1999). She stood her own in stores as the mute brassy standard not just of beauty but of lifestyle. Kathleen Grassel stated, “Around the world, Barbie has become an icon aspired to by both mothers and their daughters; mothers and daughters who, no matter what size, shape, color, language or culture, identified desperately with the rich, blonde Barbie from that rich, blonde country…” (Grassel, 1999) Nobody cared what shapes, colors, or identity Barbie had, but people craved to own the name brand doll.
In 1959, people were not worried about what their bodies looked like, what hair color they had, and even what height they achieved, but now body hate is at an all time high. The Barbie doll has made a gigantic impact on how bodies are seen. Teenage girls’ judge their body’s off of what they are told is standard and standard in this decade is known to be to look like a Barbie. The removal of Mattel Barbie dolls would be a great contributor in reducing self harm and body shame to create the perfect body.
In Psychology Today, Charlotte N. Markey, Ph.D., published an article “Barbie Is a Swimsuit Model: Fake, Enhanced, and Plastic” and discussed the impact Barbie dolls have on young lives. In paragraphs three, four and five, she got deeper into the point of how unhealthy looking like a Barbie actually would be. Markey states, “If she were a real person she would actually be unattractive with freakishly unproportional measurements that scientists have estimated would approximate 5’7” tall, a 32 inch bust, a 16 inch waist, and 29 inch hips. (In which neither is healthy) Even with breast implants, liposuction, and a good corset, most women are simply not going to be able to achieve these proportions and they might even end up hairless. And yet, Barbie dolls are among the first “adult” dolls that little girls play with. For many girls (and boys), they become the measuring stick with which to a real woman. Research has shown that girls who play with Barbie dolls report lower body esteem and a greater interest in being thin.” Throughout the article she mentions Barbie as a sex symbol as well as a swimsuit model.
In “Barbie Is a Swimsuit Model: Fake, Enhanced, and Plastic,” Charlotte Markey uses much association and popular opinion throughout the article. The uses of these fallacies catch audience’s eyes and make them more intrigued with what they are reading. Charlotte Markey also states that she is a mother of a young girl and she can tell how her daughter is starting to want to become what Barbie is. With popular opinion and the use of her personal life, readers will understand more of how parents realize the change in young teenagers’ lives. The association between Barbie dolls as sex symbols and swimsuit models to real life women is a mode of pathos as they are directed to mothers of young females. Using real life measurements of a person as if they were Barbie also scares women into not buying Barbie dolls because of the unrealistic sizes. The use of pathos is a heavy contributor in how banning Barbie is portrayed. If there is so much fear of what Barbie’s may do with adolescents, why are they even able to be purchased? Markey mentions how Barbie dolls are the measuring stick for real women, but there should not be an image to be judged against. This article introduces the repulsive facts about Barbie no parent really understands before buying their precious daughter or son one. It is profoundly sad and ridiculous that Barbie has to appear as if she has been cosmetically enhanced in a variety of ways and then digitally enhanced using programs such as Photoshop. Is this really what the image of appealing women has become? Women are becoming more fake, enhanced, and plastic (Markey).
To help support Markey’s opinion of banning Barbie dolls, Shimi Kang, M.D., published her own article within Psychology Today, which is titled, “Don’t Ban Bossy, Ban Barbie!” Within it, she explains the effects Barbie’s have on adolescents, such as bring low self-esteem or eating disorders.

Kang states, “We do not need a scientific study to prove that Barbie represents a completely unrealistic image of a women's body, and with her endless array of clothes, cars, and accessories. She constantly feeds superficiality, consumer culture, and status anxiety.” Kang also discussed a 2006 study from the University of Sussex that was named "Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8-Year-Old

Girls."
The study findings concluded that early exposure to Barbie resulted in "lower self-esteem and a greater desire for a thinner body shape than in the other exposed conditions” (Kang, 2014). Kang also has a psychiatrist and mother view point so the unhealthy factors are very clear to her (Kang, 2014). When Kang’s daughter plays with Barbie dolls, she does not consider throwing them in the trash, but she considers buying her the new doll Lammily, whose body shape is based on averages of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (Kang, 2014). Kang ends the article by stating, “This is a great start, but we need to go much further if we want to raise our daughters to be equal leaders in every aspect of society. For women to lean on, step up, and be confident leaders, we must first start with the development of a strong self-esteem and positive identity for young girls. We all know Barbie hits both these critical pillars hard. I say let's stop being bossed around by Barbie telling us how to look and act. It's Barbie who needs to be banned!”
Shimi Kang M.D. is a credible source when debating whether Barbie’s should be banned or not. The use of ethos is accomplished by referring to studies done by the University of Sussex and the Lammily doll, that are based upon the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The fallacy, slippery slope, is used throughout her article by directly stating that Barbie dolls do cause low self-esteem and eating disorders. Yet there are many other contributors for esteem issues and dietary problems, Kang makes readers believe that Barbie’s are the only source for these illnesses. Kang also uses pathos by stating that she is a mother and is willing to change to an alternative doll for the health of her daughter. Mothers do not like the thought of any of their children suffering mental and physical diseases, especially knowing a Barbie doll could be causing them.
Charlotte N. Markey, Ph.D., and Shimi Kang, M.D., both believe that removing the Barbie doll from retail stores is an effective alternative to abolish unrealistic expectations and body shaming.