The Effects Barbie Has Had On Body Image
Research
The introduction of Barbie into society was quite the turning point for girl's view on body image. From a young age the thin, perfect doll that is Barbie is constantly drilled into the minds of females. In hours upon hours of play and fantasy, girls envision themselves as these dolls, soon these girls begin to hope to resemble their favorite Barbie doll leading to dissatisfaction with what they look like. Many studies have found that as age increases, so does the desire to be thinner. One poll revealed that forty percent of females from 8-9 years old wished to be thinner while seventy-nine percent of girls aging 11-12 were dissatisfied with their bodies (Maloney, McGuire, & Daniels, 1998).
Throughout recent years eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia have begun to increase, therefore researchers have begun to conduct studies to determine whether or not playing with thin dolls causes young girls to have a certain perception on body image. This study was conducted in 2006 by the University of Sussex and the University of West England and has become known as "The Barbie Effect." The experiment included 162 young girls aging from 5-8 years old in which girls were either shown images of Barbie dolls or simply no dolls at all. The results frighteningly concluded with the girls exposed to the images to have lower body esteem and a greater want to be skinnier in comparison to the girls who were not exposed to Barbie. Although Barbies are intended to be role models for children, they also have the negative effect of supporting an unrealistic ideal for thin bodies which could increase the risk of an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia in their adolescent years of life.
The creation of dolls such as Barbie have also led to the creation of the sociocultural theory which states that dolls and the mass media are "powerful transmitters and reinforcers of sociocultural body ideals (Levine & Smolak, 1996; Thompson et al., 1999)." The thin body image is present constantly in television and marketing, however dolls like Barbie act as role models as well for very young girls which can begin to deeply root this issue into young minds. Due to their iconic status girls may find these dolls to represent an imaginary friend or even who they want to be one day. What young girls do not realize is that Barbie's ultra thin figure is not healthy or attainable. There is a very small percentage of women that even comes remotely close to some of Barbie's body proportions.
Throughout recent years eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia have begun to increase, therefore researchers have begun to conduct studies to determine whether or not playing with thin dolls causes young girls to have a certain perception on body image. This study was conducted in 2006 by the University of Sussex and the University of West England and has become known as "The Barbie Effect." The experiment included 162 young girls aging from 5-8 years old in which girls were either shown images of Barbie dolls or simply no dolls at all. The results frighteningly concluded with the girls exposed to the images to have lower body esteem and a greater want to be skinnier in comparison to the girls who were not exposed to Barbie. Although Barbies are intended to be role models for children, they also have the negative effect of supporting an unrealistic ideal for thin bodies which could increase the risk of an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia in their adolescent years of life.
The creation of dolls such as Barbie have also led to the creation of the sociocultural theory which states that dolls and the mass media are "powerful transmitters and reinforcers of sociocultural body ideals (Levine & Smolak, 1996; Thompson et al., 1999)." The thin body image is present constantly in television and marketing, however dolls like Barbie act as role models as well for very young girls which can begin to deeply root this issue into young minds. Due to their iconic status girls may find these dolls to represent an imaginary friend or even who they want to be one day. What young girls do not realize is that Barbie's ultra thin figure is not healthy or attainable. There is a very small percentage of women that even comes remotely close to some of Barbie's body proportions.
If Barbie Was Real...
In 2008 Galia Slayen, an at the time student at Lincoln High School in Portland Oregon, become incredibly well known when she created a "real Barbie" for a school project. This doll reaches 6 feet tall with a 39 inch bust, an 18 inch waist and 33 inch hips. Slayen admits that the proportions are not entirely accurate, but this image does get her point across. For around a year, she battled her own case of anorexia which caused her increased interest in creating this life size doll. "I'm not blaming Barbie for my illness-She's only one small factor, an environmental factor. I'm blonde and blue-eyed and I figured that was what I was supposed to look like. She was my idol. It impacted the way I looked at myself (Life-Size Barbie Gets Real Women Talking)."