Barbie dolls are on the rise!
Wait... stop, stop, stop! I know what you're thinking, and I'm not talking about the sales or popularity of that stupid little blonde doll. Not about that aspect of Barbie at al. I'm referring to every woman that just must have that perfect shapely figure and tons of makeup to be beautiful.
They need multiple insane qualities to be a Barbie-girl, or the perfect girl in the eye of today’s media, entertainment world, and in some cases the view of society. It’s awful, but we’ll get into that later. First let’s start from the toes up analyzing how said girl must appear outwardly.
The feet must be done up with a perfect pedicure, the most awesome pink or sizzling red polish to go with that teeny rhinestone in the middle of the white flower on their big toe. Her legs have to be long, but not too long because she’ll look like a giraffe if they are. Not to mention there can be no stretch marks or signs of cellulite kicking in. Then we get to Miss Barbie-girls butt. Lord knows they have to have the best ass ever. No bubble butts here! Abso-fucking-lutely not! They have to have the perfect shape buns with absolutely no blemishes or marks. Of course there remains the upper portion of our doll woman to study!
Her waist must be small. Not necessarily a muscular section, but toned and exempt of even the slightest bit of fat. Ooo, the devil word: FAT! Then again, she can’t be too thin, otherwise she’ll be considered anorexic or bulimic. As we came to her butt we now come to her bust. Most girls want a decent sized bust, however to be the definition of beauty a girl must have at least double- D sized breasts with a tiny under-measure, say oh… 32, maybe 34 inches around. Moving up there’s their chest. With some their ribs are showing just slightly, and the collar bone pokes out through the flesh in a harsh manner. Not the best look, because the picturesque Barbie-girl can’t appear bony. However she must have to blemishes at all and can’t be too bony. She has to look presentably after all.
Oh! Her neck can’t be too long or wide, and her chin can’t be dimpled at all. Overall her face has to be clear, and skin across her body smooth and not flaky or shiny. Coming to her mouth we find that she has to have the perfect smile. No braces here, or any sign of normal stains. Her teeth have to be perfectly white and flawlessly straight. Then we get to the nose, which has to be just so, not too pointy or too big. Then her ears can’t be overly large, and the lobes can’t be too small or too connected to her head. This leads up to her eyes. By the doll’s standards these shining orbs must be a gorgeous deep to light blue and feathered with long eyelashes. Then of course there is her makeup. She needs her makeup, else she couldn’t make her face the perfect matching shade, or get her eyes to be spiced up. Eye shadow and particularly red lipstick are a must to be looking gorgeous. Not to forget the perfect little bit of blush to give her that pretty rosy cheek look that everyone would die to obtain. Finally there is her hair. It has to be thick and long with a slight wave, and preferably blonde to complete the look.
(This is just a joke: I’ve come to a conclusion, and that is that Barbie is a Nazi! Blonde hair, blue eyes, the perfect body, and tall. OMFG! I’m just messing, she’s not a Nazi… this is just a joke, don’t blow up on me!)
To be a Barbie-girl a woman would have to go through years of hell. This would include most likely tons of plastic surgery and overall torment to change her body into being the epitome of perfection.
In any case, it would be impossible to obtain the most imitative Barbie-doll figure and look. However, the entertainment world continues to push the look upon women or the men to push upon their women. They show pictures, and have shows or movies with these gorgeous actresses with the twig thin body, but still luscious curves. Big boobs are generally a must, and they’re always done up with the perfect amount of makeup. TV helps to coerce the matter and get it stuck into (drum roll please, the majority tends to be) the heads of teenage girls. Society in a sense pushes this upon people too. The bodily view of a rated ten out of ten woman is thin, nice sized rack, cute butt, and luscious curves.
Sadly, it’s killing girls everywhere. They strive to look like the image they are presented with and in the process can run into problems with eating disorders. This can lead to problems in the future. It also has the possibility of killing them because they are starving themselves of the nutrients their bodies’ need to survive. The problems in the future can but are not completely an issue with teeth because throwing up brings up acid as well as food which will eat away at the enamel on your teeth. This can lead to a lifetime of trouble with the dentist, tons of cavities, and other dental issues. Unfortunately this could also be looked at as a cause for suicide rates going up. If a girl can’t get that exact image, and is put down because she doesn’t look like an A-list woman should it could cause her to be so depressed that she’d kill herself. This can be considered a possible cause of suicide, mostly in teens I’d imagine.
As well as that it can cause your body to become severely weak. My mother is living proof of that right now. To be honest I’m not sure how she was still alive a few months ago. Off of the personal matter though, those are only some of the health issues the Barbie doll image can cause.
It would be a much better future if women could just realize that they should be happy with their bodies, whether pear shaped or board shaped (or any other shape for that matter). Women are beautiful regardless of what they think; it’s just the matter of realizing it themselves and accepting that fact. A woman with confidence and pride in how she looks is more beautiful than twiggy super model who hates how she looks and has to always appear a certain way. We have the freedom to look how we want to look. If there wasn’t so much pressure people begin to feel to have a certain image because of the media, and other sources women would probably be happier with their bodies. We’d probably be a happier bunch in general. I know I would be. I don’t give into the Barbie girl view, but sometimes I do feel looked down upon because I don’t fit the standards of the now pretty much social view of a perfect ten woman.
Yeah, ok. Funny title, but seriously. I'm not kidding. Follow this link to learn more : http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1997/11/26harlot.html
yea damn those barbie doll women.
<3 Scribble
I see a scary future where blondes with BMW's rule the Earth! Ok just kidding, but the blog entry does bring to like those classic signs of media hyped image-issues. Girls need to be secure with who they are. Why can't there be a slightly overweight Barbie? Or a short Barbie? Because that's not "perfect", that's why!
That's the truest thing I've heard so far. So many girls try to be barbie girl like...cept they already proved its physically impossible =P But seriously, they need to squash this fale sense of beauty.
I struggle with this everyday and my own belief in acceptance of self and others for the light and beauty within.
All it ever brings me is more questions and despair.
I am obese, I have been morbidly obese, I have been thin, I have been treated for bullemia and anorexia.
I have paid for beauty in jars, in therapy, in razorblades, in self hatred.
I move everyday. I dance. I am free. I am intelligent. I have natural double D breasts.
I look in the mirror and sometimes don't know who it is who looks back.
I defy. Tonight I go to Yoga class. That others don't know Yoga means Unity.
I cannot judge. I don't know the depths of the Babrie's souls. I just know they have one.
Let them pass, let me pass. Maybe we just don't know each other well enough to have input yet.
"to be the definition of beauty a girl must have at least double- D sized breasts"
All of my guy friends have said that is too big, most of them like B sized.
In the long run, if you teach yor children (daughters, I suppose) to have self esteem and to be proud of themselves on not focus on people for how they look, and teach them that confidence is what really makes people beautiful, it won't matter if they play with Barbie.
I played with Barbie, and I was an ugly duckling as a child. But I loved my barbies, i loved taking them on planes with me for some reason...regardless, I had barbies, and I was never self conscious because I didn't look like her. I was brunette with brown hair and abslutely no boobs until like, senior year of high school. But I was confident in myself, and eventually I grew out of my ugly duckling stage and I consider myself, not to sound conceided, but exceptionally good looking and healthy looking today. And it's not my looks that give me confidence or make me proud, it's my overall feeling toward myself and the traits my mother and father taught to me to focus on; my intelligence, the way I treat others, compassion, sympathy, understanding, an open mind...that's what got me through my ugly duckling stage, not assuming that one day I'd be able to look like barbie.
Unless your kids are nitwits that can't distinguish playtime from reality, I don't think barbie is a bad influence for little girls. As long as your kid has a strong sense of self, they will be able to reason things out on their own.
There's other options of losing weight and looking good.
Eat properly.
In Brazilian and Africa's area, they have a lot of people who eats a lot of vegetables. They have a body like a goddess or god. I don't know if it's because most of the american food is preserve, not fresh.
Are the fact that they have a lot of fast food restaurants around for the depressed people. That eat away their sorrows.
And because people get to other people's heads, that can a cause them to have low self-esteem and try their best to be a "people's person".
***Always think smart even to the littlest obstacles.***
Barbie was created to potray the perfect image of 'female' in society. In doing so, it has achieved to a certain extent. In other words 'Barbie' have constructed a feminine space, representing of this doll for adoration,inspiring every young girls a fantasies and idealogical ideas about body types.And I must say Barbie did become one of the most popular commodity in the global market, particularly in America. Researched found that in 1991, 80% of 9 year old girls were concerned about their weight!!!This is why so many young girls in this world growing up are confused about the characteristics and signs of femininity they choose to potray...thanks to Barbie,who have created the confusing world of 'feminisms?
I saw a show about Barbie dolls and they actually created a digital human with the exact features of a barbie. Well, guess what? It's physicall impossible to ever look like a barbie. Yet our kids play with these dolls thinking that's what pretty people look like. I saw the show years ago, so I don't remember the stats, but Barbie's legs are so incredibly long, that it would be impossible for anyone to look like that. And her boobs are so huge in comparison with her abdomen and waist that she would literally topple over if she was a person. And her eyes are so completely out of proportion. Now I don't know if playing with Barbie dolls actually harms children, because at least it gets them to use their imagination, but a Barbie doll is so completely unrealistic.
The Barbie doll was created as a perfect women for society, for little girls to follow as example. But nobody imagined that these dolls would have such a big influence, even after the girls grow up. Gothicfox, you took Barbie doll as an example, but I think is the best example you could have taken.
This is a serious issue here, and I'm glad that some people can recognize that the Babrbie immage that is shoved down everyones thoat is just wrong. I have struggled with borderline anorexia, and I know that came from self conciousness about my body and weight. As a little girl I emulated Barbie. I had the blonde hair (I didn't know it was 'too' frizzy or curly yet), I was tall ( I didn't know that my legs were 'too' long yet), and I thought I had it made. But as it turned out, by the time I was 12 I had bad acne, crazy hair, I wasn't allowed to wear makeup or shave, I was begining to be tall and gangly, and my parents couldn't afford the 'cool' clothes. (They probably wouldn't have let me wear them anyways.) I was smaked in the face with the realization that I wasn'r Barbie afterall. A few months ago my friend and I were feeling extramely sadistic, and we got a few old Barbies from my closet, found a flat rock in her back yard and burnt them. It was very, very fufilling feeling. I know thats a bit of a stretch, and may sound weird or crazy, but it was quite freeing. I hate the idea of little girls having to go through what I did, realizing that they aren't going to have the perfect body, hair and teeth.I think barbie is a slut, and we need to burn the Nazi!
Love and happiness,
Emily M.
I agree. I can't understand what women are aiming for... So many women these days are having plastic surgery in order to look "perfect." You know, as I'm typing this comment, I can't help but realize how much this sounds like a psychological disorder commonly known as "cutting." People are choosing to undergo a procedure in which they will have to go through months and months of recovery from doctors literally tearing flesh, muscle and bone... and we do this in order to be MORE beautiful?
Good God, when are we going to start realizing that the people we are doing this for are not even doing the same things for us. With women especially, how can we EVER expect anything other than being paid less than men for doing the same job, if we don't take the first step, and begin by respecting ourselves?
I'm not talking about women who burn their bras to get respect, I
m talking about women who hold themselves in high enough regard to believe that they need not change for anyone but themselves. When did it become more important for us to play to a man, to put up this facade of the fake, just to gain the affections of the opposite sex, or to look like a model?
Most of the people who are famous for their beauty, take Sarah Jessica Parker for example, they told her that there was no way that she would make it in Hollywood with her nose as it is naturally, which is [somewhat] big. Well, instead of having it surgically altered, she kept it as is, and now she is famous for her drastic features.
Every woman has it within herself to be "beautiful." And as my mother says, "Any women can get a man if she lowers her standards enough." We have to have the courage to tell the world through our actions that we ALL deserve BETTER than what we have now!! Not just with men, but with everything... we don't deserve anything but equal treatment in everything, and whatever anyone tells us, we DO deserve equality...
It's not fair to put the blame on Barbie. She can't even blink!
barbie can't blink but don't you know that the people at matel or whoever makes barbie changed her form a couple of decades ago??? she used to have smaller boobs and a bigger waist until they reversed it. We can't blame barbie, what we need to do is see why our little girls are trying to be like her and we need to show them someone realistic to look up to.
So the doll makers are guilty for creating such raw models for little girls.
Barbie was just the example I was using for this blog. I'm not blaming her for everything, certainly the celebrities and girls' other role models play a part in the situation too. ^^
~The Vixen: Alyssa~
I work in the cosmetic department and watch women pay 50 dollars on some miracle cream that freezes your face into a wrinkle free visage. I also see them continuously selling new product that is ungodly in price...with women happily purchasing them.
We live in a Barbie world.
WOW, tis sad these little girls are exposed to Barbies, I never liked Barbie growing up!
This is so funny...yet so true. I went to Torrey Pines High School my senior year... located in Del Mar, California. [[Del Mar is the "rich" part of San Diego]] Every other girl had blonde hair with the big sunglasses and keys to a BMW that daddy bought them. If people want to look a like and think that being blonde, super-unhealthily-skinny, wearing tons of make up and getting plastic surgery is going to make them beautiful--- [in my opinion] they're wrong. I found it amusing that by doing all that, they thought they were unique. I was one of the few non-white-Barbie people there, so I had to do nothing to stand out...It came naturally =)
I agree with Sally. I think that some girls and even women try to hard to look "perfect." All girls and women are beautiful inside and out. No girl should ever have to feel like they want to look like a "Barbie" cuz to tell you the truth,...it's fake, unhealthy and unpretty. Girls should learn to be comfortable with their body types. If they're not they should talk to a doctor and figure out what they can do to make it better. But getting surgey and making yourself get sick is not a good way to be and to form your body the way you want. I know girls at my High school who freak if they're overweight and won't eat for days till they get to the weight they want. Even celebrities do it and for kids to see that and look up to that is wrong. Cuz then kids think it's the right thing to do and it's not. It's just plain sick!
I agree with Sally. I think that some girls and even women try to hard to look "perfect." All girls and women are beautiful inside and out. No girl should ever have to feel like they want to look like a "Barbie" cuz to tell you the truth,...it's fake, unhealthy and unpretty. Girls should learn to be comfortable with their body types. If they're not they should talk to a doctor and figure out what they can do to make it better. But getting surgey and making yourself get sick is not a good way to be and to form your body the way you want. I know girls at my High school who freak if they're overweight and won't eat for days till they get to the weight they want. Even celebrities do it and for kids to see that and look up to that is wrong. Cuz then kids think it's the right thing to do and it's not. It's just plain sick!