I really enjoyed this weeks reading on Barbie “The Bitch Still has Everything”. Small children, primarily little girls are introduced to the doll at a young age and get to see all of the things Barbie can do. She is a doctor, a veterinarian, a politician, a pilot, and so on. She has all of these careers which allow kids to see that they can do whatever they want. But is this setting young Barbie fans up for disappointment? I think it may be. Yes, these kids who play with Barbies will realize they can do whatever they want if they put their mind to it, but they will have to soon realize it is next to impossible to have all the careers Barbie had. And then we come to Barbie’s flawless looks. Besides her long blonde hair and blue eyes, Barbie has a body that most girls would want. There was an experiment that showed Barbie’s proportions of her body. They were physically impossible to attain and she would be considered freakish if someone were to see her in real life. When analyzed Barbie seems to be providing a bad image to us and to the children who play with her, but the real question still remains if the child’s innocent yet curious mind is thinking these things too.
I completely agree with you - I am currently watching Killing Us Softy by Jean Kilbourne she talks about the same thing. Women aspire to be like the models they see in advertisements and in the media yet it is unattainable, just like being Barbie. Similarly, it is impossible to be like Barbie with the numerous careers she has and the body structure she has. If Barbie was a real person, she would look like this http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=z1J3n7sNecF7AM:&imgrefurl=http://thatgirlgwen.tumblr.com/post/4721120668&docid=5aMIxCCNvvdyHM&imgurl=http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljppef68ST1qbbcu5o1_500.jpg&w=456&h=607&ei=IHp7T4qLJ6TjsQLztsSJBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=115&sig=117065064365319525818&page=1&tbnh=144&tbnw=109&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:70&tx=51&ty=27. This is in no way normal yet people aspire to be just like her. She idealizes the 'normal'American girl who is white, has blond hair, and is thin. This is also what we see in the media and advertisements. I thought it was interesting how both Barbie and advertisements are such a large part of our lives that we do anything to be just like them.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everything you said, especially that Barbie sets young girls expectations way to high just like i think Disney does. The media is full of.. be whatever you want to be and and you will be successful and rich..you will fall in love on your dream date..and live happily ever after without struggle. When girls grow up they realize most of these things wont happen and they actually have to work for what they want which Barbie doesn't show us, they get pretty depressed, and feel like there failing. If only life was as easy as Barbies and we could drive around in our Corvette hoping from pool parties to the mall.
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