Check out this information on Barbie body image and how she is influencing girls around the world. How many girls grown up playing with Barbie dolls? A lot. Statistics show that two Barbie's are sold every second somewhere in the world. In fact, the average American girl from ages 3 to 11 owns 10. (1)
Barbie's Body Type
If you met Barbie as a human being, what would she look like? There are differing views. You can see one example in the picture to your right.
Another source says Barbie would stand about 5’6”, weigh nearly 120 pounds, and have the measurements 38-18-34. 38 inches for her chest - 18 inches at her waist - 34 at her hips. It is speculated that if Barbie were human, she would be so thin that she would not be able to menstruate. This is because she would not have the body fat percentage necessary to do so (1). Statistics say the Barbie body type is likely to occur in one out of every 100,000 women (2).
No matter what way you look at it, Barbie's body is not average...and also not easily attainable.
What impact does this have on young girls that spend hours and hours playing with these dolls? Do they want to become like Barbie and look like her?
We know that the more time we spend with anything, the more influence it has on us. If you spend weeks studying for a test, you'll probably do better than if you just spend a few minutes studying.
I think the same is true with our time. If we spend hours and hours playing with Barbie dolls, they are bound to have an influence on us. Just as if we would spend hours and hours playing video games.
Barbie Body Image...One Woman's Quest to Become Barbie
There is one woman, Cindy Jackson, who was so influenced by Barbie that it became her life mission to look exactly like her. Her obsession to look like Barbie started when her parents bought her first Barbie at the age of 6. And she didn't give up until she reached her goal. She ended up spending about $55,000 and underwent 20 plastic surgery operations to reach her goal of becoming Barbie.(3)
20 operations!
This is just one more example of how impossible it is to reach this ideal image without major alterations of our natural beauty.
I couldn't believe this when I read it....In 1965 Mattel came out with a “Slumber Party Barbie” that came complete with a bathroom scale permanently set at 110 pounds. The doll also came with a book entitled How to Lose Weight. And inside this book it gave the advice: “Don’t Eat”. The matching Ken doll also came with slumber party accessories, but his were milk and cookies, sending a very different message (1).
Barbie Transformed
Mattel received many criticisms about Barbie and the impact she has on young girls around the world. In the summer of 2000, they decided to change Barbie to a more modern look.
“The new Barbie will have a more natural body shape – less busty with wider hips.”
What caused Mattel to make these changes? One influence may have been a drop in sales. According to the Los Angles Business Journal, Barbie sales dropped from $2 billion to $1.5 billion in 1999.(4)
There are many other influences on our body image that just toys and advertising. Many times it is the thoughts within our minds and how we see ourselves. We can get to the point where we begin to believe lies about ourselves. Have you fallen for this body image lie?
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Share Your Reactions to Barbie...
Do you think Barbie influences girls today? Do you think playing with dolls like Barbie put an unrealistic goal of what we should look like?
The other day my 3 year old I were in KMart, a large Australian retailer and we happened to walk down the aisle and she ...
"Barbie Blues"
Hello, my name is Chloe and I'm a 14 year old girl. My freinds already have nicknamed me Barbie and I'm infamous for my pink lips, and bleech coloured ...
Didn't realize the dimensions had changed until...
My 4 year old finally inherited my trunk load of Barbie accessories and clothes this past weekend. Out of my frustration in NOT finding sensible clothes ...
barbie the moral killer
I think Barbie is a very poor representation of "The Average American Woman." Barbie is a better example to the girls who have dreams of becoming models....
OMG i have so much to say...!!!
like what is it with barbie and her body these days she looks so retarded and demented!!!!!!!!!! she needs to grow a body man!!! and what up with her and ...
i am barbie.............
hi barbies i feel like im a barbie cause i got a pretty face and smooth skin.... rite now im in class an i am dressed like a barbie cause im a barbie gurl...
There is nothing wrong with Barbie
I have played with Barbie all my life and I am perfectly at home with my body. I am short (a little over 5ft) with a large rump and not so large chest....
Barbie Project
My friends and I are in 8th grade and have been working on our History Day project. In case you dont know what History Day is, it's an analysis project ...
Barbie Collector in Illinois
I grew up with Barbie. I was born in 1963. I loved the way Barbie used to look, and do not like the new body style of Barbie that started in 2000. I ...
Barbiee is a --> DOLL
I think that Barbie has an influence on everyone! Not just young girls but girls from the ages on 4+. This includes middle aged women.
I feel that ...
Paige
I LOVE BABRIE i want to be her she's perfect and i dont care if i never have a period i guess it's just the price you have to pay now isn't it :) sooo ...
Barbie
Yes, I think Barbie does influence most girls (or even all). I personally have never been too obsessed with my looks and all. But I think it is a shame ...
4 year old fat?
My little cousin has spent so much time playing with Barbies she thinks she is fat, and since she was a preemie baby she is underweight. When her parents ...
Nika
No, I do not think Barbie influences the little girl playing with her, I have 2 kids, both played with Barbie and Ken, neither of them ever pretended to ...
Barbie has attacked!
Barbie has seriously conquered over us! The thinness, the height, the face. Fake, i tell you! FAKE! No one can look this way, everyone is beautiful, cuz ...
Barbie is unrealistic!!!!!
barbie has a bad influence on teen girls!!!!!!!! If she was a real person, she would die because she is unproportional!!!
My senior project about Barbie
im doing my senior project on the effect that barbie has on girls' body image. Im really excited about it i just started researching it and its all so ...
Barbie equals False
I liked Barbie because you could dress her up in pretty clothes, but I didn't like that she was so unrealistically thin. No human could be that thin naturally ...
Definitley
I think little girls when they get a gorgeous perfect barbie doll for Christmas at some point it might go through there head i want to look just like that....
Barbie's negative impact on little girls
I think Barbie, has negative impact on little girls and cause them to develop poor body images. Is it still going on today? When did 'Barbie' start affecting ...
Barbie is not bad
First of all Barbie is JUST a doll... nothing more or less. I think a Barbie doll has nothing to do with a child's body image. I think a child's body image ...
Unrealisitc Role Model
Barbie gives young girls everywhere a "successful woman" to look up to. But in reality, she is setting an unrealistically high standard for girls to measure ...
Barbie is Not That Bad
I've noticed time and time again, people bashing Barbie and "what she stands for". Especially her figure. In my experience with reading, playing ...
Shay Shay
Ok... so when I first got on this site I wasn't even thinking about trying to look like barbie. I love the way I look. Then when they compare pictures ...
Barbie Dolls - It's not fair to us...
I'm 13 years old. On my baby sister's birthday, she recieved two Barbies. This may seem a little silly, but I as I sat in the car, pondering the Barbie'...
Godly Barbies
I think Barbie can influence girls if they let her image affect their thought of how they should look. i mean, come on, she has like a two centimeter waistline!...
barbie and the marketing system and kids
barbie is just a lone doll that parents are buying for their kids to play with. But the more the that kid gets attached to that doll they more accessories ...
Fansty world !!!!!!
Barbie doll is so fake she's not happy its a fantasy to be her. Girls, teen girls, and young women want to be that fantasy barbie doll. Don't be want you ...
Barbie is unrealistic
I once heard that if a life-size Barbie was created, it wouldn't even be able to stand up because it's body is so unnaturally proportioned!! (Disclaimer:...
My story about Barbie
When I was really little, I played with Barbies a lot. But then, I stopped when I was five or six because they didn't look enough like a friend. I thought ...
The Real Barbie
I do think Barbie influences girls today.. Not just little girls but adults as well. Not so much in a bad way though.. Barbie is so fun to play with....
Barbie is every girls idol
Darbie is every girls idol. I think that she is a excellent idol for every little girl.
I don't think that she puts an unrealistic goal of what we should ...
My Beauty Expert is the Best!
I think Barbie, Style channel and beauty magazines all affect us. It puts an "ideal" in front of us that is impossible for most of us to match.
A number ...
Here's something else to think about regarding Barbie...
References
1) Pendergast, Sara. “Barbie.” Gale Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. 2002. 2) Norton, Kevin I. “Ken and Barbie at Life Size.” Sex Roles. (Feb. 1996): 287-294. 3) Cindy Jackson. www.cindyjackson.com. 4)Gorchov, Jolie. "Mattel Giving Middle-Aged Barbie a Major Makeover." LosAngeles Business Journal 20 Mar. 2000. 18 Feb. 2003. www.findarticles.com.
Images:
1) www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/10/13/69379- Barbie compared to average adult woman 2) 5.6 billion Barbie
If you met Barbie as a human being, what would she look like? There are differing views. You can see one example in the picture to your right. 
There is one woman, Cindy Jackson, who was so influenced by Barbie that it became her life mission to look exactly like her. Her obsession to look like Barbie started when her parents bought her first Barbie at the age of 6. And she didn't give up until she reached her goal. She ended up spending about $55,000 and underwent 20 plastic surgery operations to reach her goal of becoming Barbie.(3)
Mattel received many criticisms about Barbie and the impact she has on young girls around the world. In the summer of 2000, they decided to change Barbie to a more modern look. 
