Barbie: A Bad Example for Young Girls?

Barbie: A Bad Example for Young Girls?

Barbie: A Bad Example for Young Girls?

examples of clothes barbie  - Brittney Smith, Elizabeth Bond, Laura Ciuchta, Staff Writers

Barbie: A Bad Example for Young Girls?


For over 50 years, Barbie has been the toy of choice for the majority of young girls. Barbie was introduced in March 1959 from the Mattel toy company. The first Barbie doll was released as both a blond and a brunette. She was 11.5 inches tall. On a scale of 1/6 a life size Barbie would be 5’9 and have measurements of 36’18’33. The Slumber Party Barbie, released in 1965, came with a plastic pink scale permanently set on 110 pounds. It also came with a book on how to loose weight, a tip in the book said, “Don’t Eat”. The Barbie also came with miniature diet pills.  This has come to be known as Barbie’s weight. Based on these measurements, Barbie would have a B.M.I. of 16.24 and fit in the criteria for anorexia.

Barbie displays an always  perfect appearance. She is most commonly recognized for her long blond hair, big blue eyes, voluptuous lips and cute nose. As stated previously, Barbie at 5’9 and 110 pounds, which is anorexic and no girl should see a anorexic doll as a role model.  Also Barbie has flawless skin, which in most dolls in slightly tan, like from the beach. This might make young girls want to go tanning, which would be an increase in skin cancer for young girls. In addition Barbies physical appearance is only one of the many problems of Barbie.

Barbie has been portrayed in numerous movies as an airhead. She sends young girls the message that pretty girl’s can’t be smart. Barbie causes many problems for her friends due to her own ignorance. Barbie is also dependent on Ken to make her happy rather than her being happy by herself.

Another problem with Barbie is her clothing. The outfits that she wears are tight and very stereotypical. Barbie’s clothing could make young girls have an unreachable idea of perfection.Barbie wears short dresses and rarely wears pants. In every outfit Barbie wears, she looks flawless and extremely stylish.  Every Barbie doll comes with a pair of high heeled shoes and very rarely comes with a pair of tennis shoes. This shows girls that they are supposed to wear heels all the time, unless she is playing  sports.

Also Barbie is often put in stereotypical carers. She does the basic careers that you would expect her to do.  Occupations chosen for barbie were most commonly jobs that were occupied by women. Barbie did the basic carers like being a teacher, nurse, Ballerina, a mom, chef, Flight attendant or a check out girl and a babysitter. Plus so many more. Also carers barbie had that were gender neutral were still feminized for Barbie. When Barbie did carers like being as astronaut, a computer engineer, soldier, doctor or News Reporter they were still more targeted to the female side. They feminized barbie by changing the standard apparel, like wearing skirts for all the jobs, tighter clothes, high heals, pink and other female oriented clothes. Another prime example of the the stereotypical of the Barbie doll, when ever Barbie did carers such as being a computer engineer, a teacher, doctor or an architect she is depicted as a nerd. In these carer dolls Barbie is accessorized with items that are generally associated with “nerds”.  They include these dolls wearing glasses, or ponytails, or plaid. So in the occupations Barbie has had, she is either given carers generally held by females, or gender neutral carers that have been more feminized.

Another reason Barbie is a bad example is her on again, off again relationship with Ken. Mattel uses their relationship as a marketing scheme. In 2004, Barbie and Ken had a very public break up. In a statement released from their publicists, it was said that “The flame of love had gone out.” It was suggested that parents deal with the break up “much like a parent may someday have to explain a divorce.” It was also stated that during the break up, “Barbie was holed up in her dream house with friends and family.” These statements suggested that girls must hide out when a boy breaks up with them.The statement also said that Barbie and Ken broke up because “she got a new look.” This suggests that young girls can not look the way that they want to but they need to look the way that boys want them to. Barbie and Ken got back together on Valentine’s Day 2011. During their time apart Barbie had a fling with an Australian surfer, Blaine. Many people said that the break up and fling with Blaine were merely a publicity stunt. Before the break up Mattel’s sales had been down, but after the break up sales skyrocketed and the awareness of Mattel rose in family homes.

Many young girls have played online at the Barbie Website. As long as the children have permission by their parents going on the website it is okay. The website itself is fine, it is appropriate for the younger audiences but the main purpose of this website is targeted to young Girls. The website creators fill the website with stereotypical things that “girls” love. The website even refers to the viewer as a princess or another name usually given to young females. The site is filled with fashion games, make over games, hair stylist games, puzzles or animal games. Yes the games are more feminine but does that mean that a boy should not feel as welcome playing. Opening a site and having it say “Hey Girl” or “Princess” might make a boy feel gender discriminated. Maybe a boy likes fashion or maybe he honestly enjoys playing with barbies and wanted to play online and with constant girl references he might not feel welcome. Also the things on the website are supposed to be drawing in girls but should we assume that girls want to play fashion games and just fashion games. The website should not be so stereotypically female because it could make other viewer feel unwelcome, or make girls dependent on fashion games when there are other games out there for them.

In conclusion, Barbie is a bad example for young girls. She portrays an unattainable body image and puts negative ideas in young girls heads. Barbie is stereotypical and shy’s young girls away from careers typically done by men. She also is constantly in a relationship and if she isn’t she is hiding in her dream house, this tells young girls that they can not be happy unless they have a man. Barbie is a bad example for young girls and parents should carefully think before deciding to allow children to play with Barbie dolls.

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