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 girls/guys body images?
Comments for
Barbie's negative impact on little girls
Hi Briane,
I’m not quite sure when Barbie started having an effect on young people’s idea of body image. There are people out there that believe that Barbie’s body type influences young girls to want to get a body just like hers or as close to it as they can. However, when I was little girl I never remember focusing on having a body like Barbie. My friends, my sisters and I all liked to play with her because of all the fun stuff she would come with and the different types of Barbie’s there were and still are - Rocker Barbie, Barbie the Vet, Barbie’s van, Barbie the mom, Barbie the Teacher. The different types of Barbie dolls out there focus on grown up activities and there are some people believe encourage positive role playing. It’s important to remember that Barbie’s body is not a realistic body. I also want to mention that there are other images all of our minds take in on a daily basis from magazines, television and other forms of advertising. We view 400-600 of these images from the media each day, sometimes more! We see information on all types of diet and weight loss, and also the unrealistic size of models used to sell these products. An average models weight is 25% below what she should be for her to be healthy. There are messages being sent to us from all over that are telling us we’re just not thin enough. It’s my personal opinion that Barbie is just a doll and it’s ok to play with her. I also feel we should guard ourselves from the unrealistic standards the world tries to place on us. We should be encouraged that Christ said our bodies are temples to His Holy Spirit and we should try to do our best to take care of ourselves by eating a healthy, balanced diet while getting a regular amount of exercise.
