The Good And The Bad Barbie

673 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impact of media on adolescence on mind

I had over 50 barbies when I was a little girl. The story The Good, The Bad And The Barbie tells you all these bad thing that Barbie does for the world. Having blonde hair and blue eyes similar features to barbie I have never thought about barbies that way. When I grow up I will let my kids have 100 Barbies. The story has quotes that pretty much trash Barbie. The book made me question my love for Barbies and I can’t be the only one because, people have been playing with them for over 50 years.

Seeing a barbie makes me think about all the fun times I had playing with those little toy dolls and the memories of creating my own dream life through Barbie. Playing with Barbies is great and imaginative because the sky's the limit when you play. You can make your own family, a life of your own, and choose a dream career. Unfortunately not all people feel that way. Some people see barbies and think those tiny waisted dolls with large breasts are what influenced my insecurities about my body. The creator of barbie once said “I wanted little girls who were not …show more content…

The role of Barbie in her many careers led me to think that they could do anything they put their mind to. Barbie has over 120 jobs some of them being a nurse, a veterinarian, a rockstar, plus she ran for president in 2008. “Barbie has always represented the fact that women have choices”- Ruth Handler. (45) Barbie showed me that even I could be dominant in male jobs including astronaut, surgeons, and baseball players. Barbie has taught me that I have a choice to make when it comes to my career and that we can’t be limited or held back to jobs that have been portrayed by men only. Ruth Handler believes that “Barbie was all about choices and being able to remain feminine while succeeding in a man's world.” (43) Role-playing with my dolls in different careers helped me to see what job my personality best fit

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Our Barbies Ourselves By Prager

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    “If Barbie was designed by a man, suddenly a lot of things made sense to me,” says Emily Prager in her essay “Our Barbies, Ourselves” (Prager 354). Prager’s purpose for writing this essay is to explain the history of Barbie and how the doll itself has influenced and continue to influence our society today. Prager is appealing to the average girl, to those who can relate to the way she felt growing up with Barbie seen as the ideal woman. Emily Prager uses a constant shift between a formal and informal tone to effectively communicate her ideas that we view women today based upon the unrealistic expectations set forth by Barbie. By adopting this strategy she avoids making readers feel attacked and therefore

    Read More

  • Our Barbies, Ourselves Summary

    473 Words  | 1 Pages

    Although Barbie was created as a toy for girls, the sexual nature of the doll suggests it was created for the pleasure of men and envy of women. Prager compares the figure of Barbie to the kind of women who would be seen in the Playboy mansion or be a frequent guest on explicit television shows. This is the image of a mans...

    Read More

  • Barbie Annotated Bibliography

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    This website article provides the history of Barbie and her newly inspiring images for young women. Barbie was the new popular doll during World War 2 because she provided something inspiring for young girls and something that mothers felt strong about, independence. Barbie helped with what was being told to women, that they didn’t have to settle for being just a housewife or a stay at home mother. Women around the country could have a variety, a choice to work and have a career. “Barbie’s early professions were limited

    Read More

  • The History of the World's Most Famous Doll, Barbie

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mattel has an "I can be.." line that sells Barbie dolls in 125 different occupations. In this case, Barbie is not promoting something impossible. She has had a large variety of jobs, everything from waitress to astronaut.

    Read More

  • Ruth Handler, Inventor of the Barbie Doll

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Martin, Melanie. “Negative Effects of Barbie on Girls.” eHow. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

  • Barbie And Popular Culture

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    It was very common to have a Barbie doll growing up, and it wasn’t just a toy, it was a representation of a “perfect life”. From dream houses, to boats, cars, a perfect boyfriend to exiting careers, Barbie had the perfect life. Barbie had the perfect lifestyle AND the perfect body, long legs, small waist and a curvy chest. This taught children from a very young age that having a boyfriend, a career, a house and a petite body is very important. (Worldpress 2011). Barbie’s “attention has been generated by the secondary role she plays in popular culture the artifact of female representation” (Wright 2003). Barbie isn’t just a toy, she mimics

    Read More

  • The Merchants Of Cool Analysis

    1007 Words  | 3 Pages

    I more so focused on the article Barbie because it reminded me a the movie “Life-Size” that I used to watch all the time as a child. The film came out in the year 2000 and it is about a girl who brings her Barbie to life. The Barbie character is played by African-American model, Tyra Banks. In the film the Barbie comes to life and has to deal with the changes of her Barbie world in comparison to the real world. Barbie explains how she has multiple jobs and a closet full of clothes, nice jewelry and shoes. This is how Barbie is view by young girls and it formulates the idea that this is what females are expected to do and look like. Tyra Banks is known world wide and is considered to be and idol for many. I believe that she was chose to play this role due to the fact that she is seen to the world as a beauty icon. Little girls that have watched Life Size, thought that Tyra was beautiful and even though she faced many challenges in the real world she ended up not being able to survive without all of her belongings in her picture perfect world. The Barbie character attempted to bake and do clerical work but it wasn't as easy as her unrealistic world made it see. Another thing that caught my interest was that the Barbie in the film was African American versus an Americanized caucasian

    Read More

  • Feminism In Marge Piercy's Barbie Doll

    1169 Words  | 3 Pages

    Feminism has yet again become a prominent topic in recent years and the issue is ripe with controversy due to the tendency of sexism to be more subtle now than it was in the past, such as back during the Women’s Suffrage Movement. While, superficially, Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” seems an antiquated, obsolete analysis of insignificant stereotypes that are no longer relevant in modern society, this isn’t the case as one looks deeper. Marge Piercy paints an exceptionally bold, audacious, and, at times, almost grotesque picture of 1973 sexual stereotypes which decidedly still holds true over 40 years later. “Barbie Doll” candidly addresses both the devaluation of women into only having worth within the female stereotype and the shameless sexualization

    Read More

  • History Of Barbie

    1375 Words  | 3 Pages

    Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration.

    Read More

  • Busting Barbie

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    Not many arguments or tests are done on the positive effects of Barbie. Sure, she is a role model but what about when girls set goals for themselves and later in life do not meet these expectations? Unlike Barbie, most of these goals are unrealistic and cannot be met. Barbie provies alternatives to the female stereotype of a mother and wife, but marriage isn’t perfect like the way it is portrayed. She goes through absolutely no struggles.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Barbie

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a way, Barbie is a role model for girls to look to for confidence, because she is extremely talented and educated, and is considered the example of a career woman. Juggling over 130 careers on her resume, Barbie has accomplished the above and beyond. From rock start to pilot,Barbie has had every job a child could possibly ever dream about. This includes her being an astronaut and going to the moon; four years before Neil Armstrong. Even in the 90s, she ran for president before  woman even made the presidential ballot. “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” From the start Ruth Handler, the co-owner of the Mattel creations and creator of the Barbie doll, created Barbie for the purpose of inspiration to young girls. Handler saw that her young daughter, Barbara, enjoyed playing with adult female doll...

    Read More

  • Cultural Criticism: Barbie

    1593 Words  | 4 Pages

    Barbie, a doll manufactured by Mattel, Inc., encourages an unrealistic body image, racial insensitivity, and contradictive goals, and it is having a negative influence on young girls everywhere. Launched in March 1959 by Ruth Handler, an American business woman and president of Mattel, Inc., Barbie quickly became popular and has gone on to sell three dolls every second, in over one hundred and fifty countries. However, Barbie’s rise to success has not been wholly positive – there have been numerous controversies, parodies, and lawsuits, all addressing a number of issues. One such issue is how Barbie promotes an unrealistic and unobtainable body image. For example, to scale, Barbie is five feet, nine inches tall, has a thirty six inch chest, eighteen inch waist, and thirty three inch hips. Had Barbie been a real person, she would not be able to walk, much less hold her head up. Secondly, Barbie is racially insensitive and perpetuates stereotypes. “Mexico Barbie,” from Barbie’s “ethnic” line, comes with a passport and a Chihuahua, as well as stereotypical red lace ribbons in her hair. Lastly, Barbie portrays goals that are both unobtainable and contradictive. Barbie has had a variety of careers, such as being a doctor, astronaut, and President of the United States, but also engages in stereotypical domestic activities, such as cleaning and baking. These characteristics are affecting young girls in a time when they are most developmentally susceptible, and teaching them a number of negative lessons.

    Read More

  • Barbie: The Queen of Feminism

    1169 Words  | 3 Pages

    When I was very young, I owned very many Barbie dolls. To me, they were just so beautiful, and flawless, and I loved them very much. But the Barbie that said the most to me was the President Barbie. This spoke to me. It said that anyone, anywhere, of any gender, socioeconomic status, background, sexuality, ethnicity, race, or belief system could be anything they ever wanted to be, as long as they worked hard enough to achieve it. And this is a very important message, and it is a message that Barbie sends to people every day, all over the world.

    Read More

  • Berger And Luckmann's The Social Construction Of Reality?

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    It may seem trivial and go unnoticed to most, but by assigning Barbie a real career, people are able to identify with and recognize her. The marketers also provide Barbie with a life other than modeling, such as friends and a home. The Ken doll, which is commonly known as Barbie’s boyfriend, makes her appear more real to the audience. Girls are able to identify with the idea of a boyfriend, which makes the notion of Barbie seem more realistic and desirable. The same idea is applied to the many friends Barbie has been accompanied by over the years. Lastly, and perhaps most famously, Barbie, like almost all of the girls who play with her, have a home. The Barbie Dream House is just another clever way her marketing team has presented her to society as a real person. Humanizing Barbie, and portraying her in such a manner makes her more attractive to potential buyers. The girls who engage in play with dolls do not want merely a doll; they desire something they can relate to and envision in the real world. Imaginative play is a large portion of childhood, and the ability for children to posses a doll like Barbie , who represents a real person in society, is extremely valuable. The use of social constructionism in the marketing of products such as Barbie is both brilliant and effective.

    Read More

  • Banning Barbie

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Lisa Belkin, Barbie is good for society because she’s fun to play with and she encourages little girls to use their imagination and dream big. Many young girls who play with Barbie dolls have realized that she is just a doll. Some of these little girls don’t have the desire to look like Barbie; they just think Barbie is just a doll that they play with and leave them everywhere. At a young age girls are given their first Barbie doll and thought what “perfect” should be. Barbie portrays the perfect image and life. Not only is Barbie tall, skinny, and beautiful, she has all the luxurious accessories to match her perfect life. To go along with her perfect life she is accompanied with the perfect boyfriend, family and dream house.At a young age girls are also being influenced by this doll, what they should look like, and what kind of life they sgould lead. Young girls strive to achieve this look which is life threatening to obtain. Regardless to the changes they made to Barbie, she is still far from real. Little girls that are mature enough don’t strive to look like Barbie because she’s just a plastic doll.(Debate.org, 9). According to “The Intentions behind the creation of Barbie”, Barbie dolls ...

    Read More

More about The Good And The Bad Barbie

Open Document