Barbie turned 54 this year — old enough to join AARP. But in her 54 years, how much has she actually contributed to society?
Artist Nickolay Lamm recently created a 3-D model of a Barbie with the dimensions of an average 19-year-old woman. The results were astonishing.
Lamm’s model of Barbie is much shorter, has a larger backside and a more muscular frame.
Overall, “normal” Barbie looks healthy and real. But a side-by-side image shows just how unrealistic the traditional Barbie’s body type is. This bears the question: How much does Barbie affect young girls’ self-esteem?
Barbie has been a mainstay in most girls’ childhoods for the last 54 years. However, the doll isn’t exactly the best role model.
According to Time magazine, Ruth Handler —Barbie’s creator — got the idea for the doll while vacationing in Switzerland when she came across a Bild Lilli doll. Unlike popular baby dolls at the time, Bild Lilli had long, shapely legs and wore heavy makeup. The doll was based on a prostitute in a post-war German cartoon.
Barbie isn’t just a toy; she has a psychological effect on young girls. Over the past five decades, Barbie has had negative influence on young girls’ self-esteem based on her impossible body image and reinforced gender-specific roles.
A study by the Wall Street Journal found that 35 percent of girls between the ages of 6 and 12 admitted to dieting, and between 50 to 70 percent of girls who were of average weight saw themselves as overweight.
In 2010, researchers at Radbound University in the Netherlands found that young girls exposed to Barbie were more displeased with their bodies and expressed a desire to lose weight or achieve thinness similar to the doll.
If Barbie were a human being, she would have to walk on all fours because her tiny ankles could not support her weight. She wouldn’t be able to lift her head because her neck is twice as long and six inches thinner than the average American woman.
In addition, her 16-inch waist would only leave room for half a liver and a few inches of intestine. If a woman had the same measurements as Barbie, she would not have enough body fat to menstruate — and therefore couldn’t have children.
However, Mattel and Handler have argued that Barbie has a positive influence on girls due to her large skill set. Barbie has done everything from visit the moon to become President of the United States.
But while Barbie has had some non-traditional careers over time, the majority were special-collection dolls. These dolls usually cost more and are marketed to collectors, not children. The career dolls available to children feature traditional career roles of women. Barbie always seems to be the veterinarian instead of the surgeon, or the nurse instead of the doctor.
Barbie has also been many different races and ethnicities — also usually for a collector’s edition.
However, University of California at Riverside women’s studies professor Christine Gailey pointed out that diversity among Barbies is not authentic in an interview with Time magazine.
“Barbies of different races, such as Indian Barbie and African-American Barbie, have ‘Caucasian’ features and bodies,” she said.
To combat the negative effects on young girls, we can choose to not buy Barbies or insist Mattel change her to look more realistic.
Consumers can promote new products that support healthy body images like the Emme Doll. This full-figured doll, which is decked out in a black cocktail dress and platform sandals, was inspired by real-life model Emme, the world’s leading plus-sized model.
Another alternative includes the Lottie Doll, a doll that looks like an average 9-year-old girl. While these options may be pricier, promotion of the product can drive the price down and change the way toy-makers create dolls.
“If normal Barbie can be made, I feel she’ll have a more positive influence on girls than Barbie in its current form,’’ Lamm said on the Today Show. “Normal Barbie shows that you are beautiful, just the way you are.”
These images have influenced and distorted young girls perception of beauty.
Young girls should not be worried about body issues or diets; instead, they should be focused on childhood and growing up to be healthy.
Elizabeth Garcia is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Greensboro, N.C.