I’m sure we’ve all had our Barbie loving, dollhouse playing days, no? I know myself that, as a young and impressionable girl, Barbie was the epitome of perfection. Most Barbie dolls had long platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect makeup, toothpick thin legs, and Ken as her Prince Charming. As a '90s baby, Barbie dolls were not as specialized as they are today. Yeah, they had the dentist, doctor, businesswoman and all, but Barbie was seen as a perfect “woman” with literally no flaws.
It is heartwarming to see that there are now handicapped and wheelchair bound or bald Barbie dolls to show young girls going through hardships that they are not alone. Of course over time, we have adapted these plastic dolls to fit societal needs, but still, can we really expect a plastic toy to be goals for young girls to achieve?
Studies have shown that with the unrealistic proportions given to this childhood toy, a real life Barbie would be around 5’9” with a protruding bust-line of 39”, but with a scant 18-inch waist. People who know typical measurements can agree that this shape is near impossible to attain without some sort of body alteration.
Okay, so basically in order for a young girl to feel “perfect," they need to look like Barbie? She should think that her female role models have it all wrong because they have red hair, freckles and are a size 12? Should their female role models or these girls once they grow up, be using waist trainers to get an unhealthy, small waist and plastic surgery to increase their breast size??
Many people would say absolutely not! That this was crazy and that people shouldn’t be using Barbie as a set of beauty standards. However, think about it. When we were young, we thought Barbie had it all. Or so we thought…? Anyone trying to obtain this figure would be going through grueling measures to do so.
Someone would often adopt eating disorder qualities like starving themselves, working out in excess or throwing up their meals to achieve this svelte look. Eating disorders and body image issues are no joke. People feel like it’s a cry for attention, or fake, but it’s not. It is a dangerous and horrific disease. I’m sure as young girls across the country agree, they’ve had their fair share of body image issues. I have had these issues myself. It is not something to glorify or make fun of; it’s awful and something we all need to unite against and prevent.
Just like Barbie’s far-fetched frame shouldn’t be something young girls aspire to, unattainable body images on social media should be seen just as that. An Australian Instagram model’s new campaign is to stop the stigma of equating a good life to numbers of followers and likes. She edited captions on almost 100 pictures explaining the truth behind the lens. She was miserable in most pictures and only smiled in flirtatious poses because she was being paid to represent a brand. She notes in one photo with an edited caption of her sitting on the beach, that she took over 100 photos to make her stomach look good. So in reality, should Barbie or unattainable body images be “goals” or “perfect” for young girls? Absolutely not. We’re all beautiful and perfect in our own way…flaws and all.