Why Do Barbie Dolls Pose A Danger For Young Girls?

The Barbie doll has been a childhood staple for many girls around the world, for nearly sixty years. With the iconic fashion doll having such longevity, “more than one billion Barbies have been sold in over 150 countries” (Most Popular Barbie Dolls of All Time). And while Barbie dolls are admired by many, they’re no stranger to controversy. Throughout the years, Mattel has released dolls that have been deemed inappropriate and in poor taste. Barbie’s physical appearance has also been brought to attention, with it being viewed as problematic for young girls. There have been studies done that show how the doll’s unrealistic body type can pose a danger for young girls. The paper will be discussing one controversial doll that was released in the

The doll came with a pink pajama set and a robe, shoes, hair curlers, bobby pins, a blue brush and comb (Slumber Party Barbie 1965). Included along with those items, were a weighing scale and a diet book. The scale was permanently set to 110 pounds and the diet book was titled How to Lose Weight (Slumber Party Barbie 1965). Shockingly, on the back cover of the book, it said “Don’t Eat!”. I cannot believe that Mattel would release a doll that encourages starvation. And even though the doll hit the shelves 53 years ago, it is just as controversial as it was back then. I can’t even imagine the outrage that it would cause if it was released today. This doll can lead girls to develop eating disorders! One question that comes to mind is how the weighing scale and the diet book have anything to do with slumber parties? Mattel didn’t think this one

The Developmental Psychology study consisted of 162 English girls, ranging from ages five to eight, who were given three picture books featuring either Barbie dolls, Emme dolls, or no dolls at all (Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin?). Just to clarify, Emme dolls have a different body shape than Barbie dolls, as they’re full-figured. One group read the Barbie book, while the other two groups read the books that featured Emme dolls, and no dolls respectively (The Science of Barbie’s Effect). After the girls were done reading, they had to complete a questionnaire about body image. The researchers found that the girls who read the Barbie picture book were more dissatisfied with their bodies than those who read the other books (The Science of Barbie’s Effect). The study concluded that “early exposure to dolls epitomizing an unrealistically thin body ideal may damage girls' body image, which would contribute to an increased risk of disordered eating and weight cycling” (Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be