At a young age, us girls start to see beauty portrayed in many things. We slowly start to build our own definition of beauty and what that looks like.
One of the first things that I remember as a young girl that taught me what type of body size is beautiful were Barbies. We are all familiar with the plastic perfection that is Barbie: tall, slender, chesty, perfectly toned calves and beautiful long blonde hair. Everything I was not. Even at a young age, I felt the desire to look like Barbie. Little did I know this would be a lifelong insecurity.
From playing with Barbies to watching Victoria's Secret Angels, all of us women, no matter what age, have thought to ourselves "Why can't I look like that"?
Thankfully, we have powerful, beautiful women who are taking a stand against the "beauty norm" and showing the world that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Ashley Graham heard the insecurities of young women and did something about it. Graham made history in 2016 when she was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue! She was the first plus-size model to ever make the front page. But she did not stop there, Graham revealed her very own Barbie at the Glamour's 'Women of the Year' summit in Los Angeles!
This plus-size model was adamant when it came to the body shape of the Barbie."It was important that the Barbie resembled me as much as possible. She had to have her thighs touch. No ands, ifs or buts about it." she expressed to the Hollywood Reporter. "The thighs touching was one way to show young girls that it's OK for your thighs to touch, despite society saying that a 'thigh gap' is more beautiful," Graham states.
What a huge accomplishment for body positivity! "Now every girl can look like Barbie," Graham told a Hollywood Reporter.
This is going to impact young girls in such a positive way. Mattel will be debuting their dolls in January with three different body types, tall petite and curvy, numerous different skin tones, 22 different eye colors and 24 different hair styles. How amazing this will be for every young girl to see a barbie that resembles them. Their dreams of looking like Barbie will be within reach.
I am so thankful that such an influential company like Barbie is taking strides for women and what is portrayed as beautiful. I believe that if I had Barbies that had the same body shape as I that I would have been more accepting of what I looked like.
I want to say a big thank you to all the women who are using their fame and popularity to make a difference; it does not go unnoticed or unappreciated!
