Heidi Ault
The Hidden Impacts of Barbie on Young Children
Any little girl would tell you that their Barbie’s are their favorite toys, but what is Barbie teaching little girls? From the moment a child is born as parents, we base the child’s environment on their gender. If a boy is born we surround them with sports, superheros, and action figures. When a girl is born we surround them with dolls, Barbies, and princesses. We do this in hopes that it will shape them to fit into the roles that have been placed on genders in society. These toys that we surround them with, in other words shape who they are. This can at times have a serious negative effect on the child. The gender that falls most victim to this is girls. Sure, the baby dolls prepare them for motherhood, princess allow them to use their imagination. But, what do the Barbies have to bring to the table? The question is, should Barbies be banned? The answer is yes! Barbies portray an image to young children that is unachievable which sets into motion the issue of low self esteem.
Barbies are an icon to the young public. You will hear a little girl saying that she wants to be just like Barbie when she grows up, as if Barbie were a live human being. The makers of Barbie make this possible for these little girls to grow up and become just like Barbie now, as there seems to be an outfit for Barbie to be just about anything you can imagine. "It can be argued that Barbie is a vital part of a young girls’ transition into womanhood, because she provides alternatives to the female stereotypes of motherhood and wife." (http://hiddenhalo.wordpress.com/2007/03/26/barbie-the-perfect-role-model/) This could be a good thing, to empower little girls to become exactly who they want to be in life, but do Barbies have a deeper hidden message?
All Barbies are exactly identical, tall skinny, blonde,with the ideal body. There is the occasional variance of skin colors, but more often that not barbie is depicted as white. Barbie is seen as a beautiful, strong, independant woman, a little girl will look to her as a role model whether it is intended or not. Do not get me wrong, being strong, independent and beautiful are still one of the main goals women even as they age. But in Barbie standards, no girl or even woman will look like Barbie in their lifetime without a little help. As barbie is portrayed, she has no flaws, the perfect blonde hair, blue eyes, and the ideal perfect body. In the history of Mattel, a Barbie had never been portrayed as “fat,” or overweight if you will. The largest body type Barbie has ever been released in, was during pregnancy. A small baby Barbie, which also looked too perfect if i might add was able to fit into a closable barbie stomach in which Barbie could essentially “give birth” to over and over again. Even then Barbie was still flawless. "But in 1965, Slumber Party Barbie came not with a PAYE slip but with a set of pink bathroom scales, permanently set to a rather scrawny 110lbs (50kg), and a diet book instructing her on how to lose weight, with just one instruction: 'DON'T EAT!” (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2239931/1965-Slumber-Party-Barbie-came-scales-set-110lbs-diet-book-telling-eat.html) We see that throught histroy Barbie was used to send a message on self image and possibly self worth.
In the countless amounts of outfits Barbie has, there is always some hint of sex appeal that is incorporated. From high heels, to glamorous dresses, and skimpy outfits it is apparent Barbie is not only a role model but a sex icon. Again with the perfect body to fill out gorgeous, and lavish clothing. No one obtains that perfect body, not without the help of plastic surgeries, botox injections and cosmetic corrections at least. This places the idea that since Barbie can be everything, Barbie is everyone essentially. That this is what the working woman looks like, or should look like. Tall, blonde, and beautiful. This brings up an issue of self esteem in young children because they know that they do not look like that, and probably will never look like that. They know that some of the things that Barbie is, they' are never going to be. It hits most prominently with young girls now more than it ever has in the past. Look at all of the stars that young girls look up to like Nicki Minaj, or Selena Gomez. Who, by the way both have their own Barbie. How can you tell little girls that the will achieve exactly that when they say they want to be like their Barbie? In most cases, they will never be just like Barbie simply because the standards are set way too high in society.
Parents today rant and rave about girls today being too scantily clad, but in fact, we have brought the problem upon ourselves. We give our girls Barbies and expose them to the fads in society. Therefore, they will grow up to conform with the norm, and in turn, wear the same clothes as the stars that we expose them to and the barbies that we have personally placed into their hands. Even though as parents, we do not approve of what they are wearing, they are not looking for our approval, they are looking for societies approval. They feel they are more physically attractive if they wear the latest trends, what everyone else is wearing, or just what they have grown up around.
Children today have learned to blend in with the norm, to be what society tells them to be, and if they don't they are cast as an outsider. This can spawn issue upon issue which can eventually leads to some horrifying turn outs. Especially in young teenage girls, if they don't fit in with society they can have low self esteem, this can lead to harassment from peers, in other words bullying which often leads to depression. This depression an stem into several things, anxiety, social disorders, and in extreme cases, thoughts or actions of suicide. The pandemic of suicide is quickly spreading faster than most realize, and little do people know, that a lot of it has to do with how we believe that society accepts us.
All of the portrayals of Barbie set into motion, that we need to be like this to fit into society, we need to do that to become acceptable, we need to do this to become successful. But in reality the image of Barbie is unacheivable. We are placing an idea of perfection directly into the hands of children. We are personally handing them that possibility of a future full of harassment, low self esteem, depression and the possibility that we may lose them to all of these things from their own hands through suicide. So yes is the answer to my question. Barbies should be banned, for the sake of our children and their futures. To possibly have the impact of lessening the hardships that society can pose. To shelter the from the storm that humans can wage on each other.
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