Barbie Girls in a Barbie World
Sexy, blonde, stylish−these are characteristics of the Bild Lilli Doll that was Barbie's predecessor. Bild Lilli was popular for her provocative clothing and busty figure, and was created for adult amusement as "a symbol of sex and pornography for the men of Germany" (Wolf). After seeing this doll overseas, Mattel's executives were inspired to create Barbie. Since her debut in 1959, Barbie has evolved to characterize diverse lifestyles through different ethnicities and careers. She has acted as a role model to girls, changed in body shape, and served as inspiration for other doll companies. Because of her evolution, Barbie has been able to become a cultural icon that is part of the modern landscape of American life (Frankel 11).
In the poem, "Barbies," Pych illustrates the influential effect of Barbie's debut on her girlhood. She and her neighborhood friends had out-grown their Betsy-Wetzies when the "shapely blonde" doll came into the market. In the 1950's, girls in their early teens were growing up in a time of newly emerging glamour and fashion, experimenting with different looks and gaining interest in boys. As a result, Barbie began as only a symbol of beauty and style. She embodied the perfect woman. In addition, Pych drew an implied comparison between Barbie and Miss America, whose "glitz" and "leggy [beauty] bedazzled [them]." The pageant contestants "sauntering down the runway in Atlantic City" inspired the girls to hold a neighborhood pageant where the "Barbie-blonde Barbara P. dared to wear her bathing suit strapless." This begins another comparison, but this time, between Barbie and an older girl from the neighborhood. Not only is Barbara's name a connection to Barbie, but Barbie's first outfit was also a strapless bathing suit, and one of Barbara's dates is referred to as "Ken" (282-3). The admiration that the girls had for Barbie, told in first person point of view by a girl experiencing the initial Barbie craze, shows the impact of her on children's coming of age, who would later become the consumers and shapers of American pop culture.
What Barbie, Miss America, and Barbara P., all have in common is their elevated status to young girls: they are role models. Although at the time that the poem was written they were merely viewed this way for their beauty, style, grace, and ability to attract the opposite sex, Barbie has since became a role model for her lifestyle and career choices as well.
The range of personas Barbie has adopted−from Beach Barbie to Dr. Barbie, from Caucasian and blonde-haired to African American with an afro−attracts a myriad of consumers because there is a doll to which every child can find a connection. Her professions vary, including occupations related to fashion, politics, medicine, entertainment, and more. These careers were often based on current pop culture crazes at the time of manufacturing, such as the Miss America and American Idol dolls, or on national situations like war, such as nurse and Army Ranger dolls (Buffamonte). Each type of career doll enabled young girls to envision themselves in occupations to which they could aspire, even if that meant Barbie simply carrying a briefcase or wearing a stethoscope. Oftentimes, these dolls placed Barbie in careers that were outside the realm of women's liberation and Barbie was before her time, showing girls what they could be someday.
Barbie's body shape has also changed over time to be more sexually attractive and ironically, less realistic. This shows a shift in our society towards more scandalous values, which are more "culturally accepted" in "forms as ubiquitous as Barbie dolls." Researchers argue that with "eating and weight disorders on the rise," it is unhealthy for children to be "exposed to highly unrealistic ideals for shape and weight," such as the proportions of Barbie dolls (Brownwell and Napolitano 295-6). These examiners point to the measurements: the average female would have to be 40% taller, 14.3% larger in the chest, 10.7% longer in the neck, 21.4% smaller in the waist, and 6.7% slimmer in neck circumference to have the proportions of Barbies produced today (Brownwell and Napolitano 297). Girls playing with these dolls, although unaware of the proportions, are negatively affected by the body shape of Barbies that they can see with the naked eye. Fantasy play is an important part of early socialization, serving as a basis for values and ideals, while dolls offer a "tangible image of the body" for children's "developing self-concept and body image." To prove the negative impact Barbie's bodies have on girls, a survey was conducted with 162 girls, aged five to eight years old. It showed that those exposed to Barbies, opposed to exposure to heavier-set dolls or no dolls at all, had greater desire for a thinner figure and lower self esteem (Ive 283). Therefore, this cultural icon that has always served as a symbol of beauty, has defined beauty to include the feature of being skinny. Whereas many girls used to look up to their mothers for their figures, Barbie has become a substitute as another, less healthy role model for body image in society today.
Nevertheless, Barbie has become part of our culture's language and is intergenerational, standing the test of time because of Mattel's ability to transform her image to suit the market. Setting aside her unrealistic proportions that may be argued to lead to eating disorders, Barbie is a positive influence on girls. She is a role model that most parents seem to condone, seeing as they purchase their children the dolls, and all her superficial glitz, glamour, and materialism is counteracted with the intelligence, motivation, and poise that she evokes through her many careers and personas. She's the culture icon version of the girl in real life with which everyone wants to be friends. While still holding true to these characteristics, pop culture's most perfect girl will be ever-changing along with society, forever a part of American life.
In the poem, "Barbies," Pych illustrates the influential effect of Barbie's debut on her girlhood. She and her neighborhood friends had out-grown their Betsy-Wetzies when the "shapely blonde" doll came into the market. In the 1950's, girls in their early teens were growing up in a time of newly emerging glamour and fashion, experimenting with different looks and gaining interest in boys. As a result, Barbie began as only a symbol of beauty and style. She embodied the perfect woman. In addition, Pych drew an implied comparison between Barbie and Miss America, whose "glitz" and "leggy [beauty] bedazzled [them]." The pageant contestants "sauntering down the runway in Atlantic City" inspired the girls to hold a neighborhood pageant where the "Barbie-blonde Barbara P. dared to wear her bathing suit strapless." This begins another comparison, but this time, between Barbie and an older girl from the neighborhood. Not only is Barbara's name a connection to Barbie, but Barbie's first outfit was also a strapless bathing suit, and one of Barbara's dates is referred to as "Ken" (282-3). The admiration that the girls had for Barbie, told in first person point of view by a girl experiencing the initial Barbie craze, shows the impact of her on children's coming of age, who would later become the consumers and shapers of American pop culture.
What Barbie, Miss America, and Barbara P., all have in common is their elevated status to young girls: they are role models. Although at the time that the poem was written they were merely viewed this way for their beauty, style, grace, and ability to attract the opposite sex, Barbie has since became a role model for her lifestyle and career choices as well.
The range of personas Barbie has adopted−from Beach Barbie to Dr. Barbie, from Caucasian and blonde-haired to African American with an afro−attracts a myriad of consumers because there is a doll to which every child can find a connection. Her professions vary, including occupations related to fashion, politics, medicine, entertainment, and more. These careers were often based on current pop culture crazes at the time of manufacturing, such as the Miss America and American Idol dolls, or on national situations like war, such as nurse and Army Ranger dolls (Buffamonte). Each type of career doll enabled young girls to envision themselves in occupations to which they could aspire, even if that meant Barbie simply carrying a briefcase or wearing a stethoscope. Oftentimes, these dolls placed Barbie in careers that were outside the realm of women's liberation and Barbie was before her time, showing girls what they could be someday.
Barbie's body shape has also changed over time to be more sexually attractive and ironically, less realistic. This shows a shift in our society towards more scandalous values, which are more "culturally accepted" in "forms as ubiquitous as Barbie dolls." Researchers argue that with "eating and weight disorders on the rise," it is unhealthy for children to be "exposed to highly unrealistic ideals for shape and weight," such as the proportions of Barbie dolls (Brownwell and Napolitano 295-6). These examiners point to the measurements: the average female would have to be 40% taller, 14.3% larger in the chest, 10.7% longer in the neck, 21.4% smaller in the waist, and 6.7% slimmer in neck circumference to have the proportions of Barbies produced today (Brownwell and Napolitano 297). Girls playing with these dolls, although unaware of the proportions, are negatively affected by the body shape of Barbies that they can see with the naked eye. Fantasy play is an important part of early socialization, serving as a basis for values and ideals, while dolls offer a "tangible image of the body" for children's "developing self-concept and body image." To prove the negative impact Barbie's bodies have on girls, a survey was conducted with 162 girls, aged five to eight years old. It showed that those exposed to Barbies, opposed to exposure to heavier-set dolls or no dolls at all, had greater desire for a thinner figure and lower self esteem (Ive 283). Therefore, this cultural icon that has always served as a symbol of beauty, has defined beauty to include the feature of being skinny. Whereas many girls used to look up to their mothers for their figures, Barbie has become a substitute as another, less healthy role model for body image in society today.
Nevertheless, Barbie has become part of our culture's language and is intergenerational, standing the test of time because of Mattel's ability to transform her image to suit the market. Setting aside her unrealistic proportions that may be argued to lead to eating disorders, Barbie is a positive influence on girls. She is a role model that most parents seem to condone, seeing as they purchase their children the dolls, and all her superficial glitz, glamour, and materialism is counteracted with the intelligence, motivation, and poise that she evokes through her many careers and personas. She's the culture icon version of the girl in real life with which everyone wants to be friends. While still holding true to these characteristics, pop culture's most perfect girl will be ever-changing along with society, forever a part of American life.
Works Cited
Buffamonte, Christina. "Barbie's Careers Through the Years." Good Housekeeping. Good Housekeeping, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
Frankel, Susy. "From Barbie To Renoir: Intellectual Property And Culture." Victoria University Of Wellington Law Review 41.1 (2010): 1-14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
Ive, Suzanne, Emma Halliwell, and Helga DIttmar. "Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8- year-old Girls." Developmental Psychology 42.2 (2006): 283-92. Willett Survey. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
Napolitano, Melissa A., B.A., and Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D. "Distorting Reality For Children: Body Size Proportions Of Barbie And Ken Dolls." International Journal Of Eating Disorders 18.3 (1995): 295-298. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
Pych, Maude Carolan. "Barbies." Paterson Literary Review 39 (2011): 282-283. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
Wolf, Erica. "Barbie: The Early History." Barbie: The Early History. University of Maryland Honors University, 2000. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
Frankel, Susy. "From Barbie To Renoir: Intellectual Property And Culture." Victoria University Of Wellington Law Review 41.1 (2010): 1-14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
Ive, Suzanne, Emma Halliwell, and Helga DIttmar. "Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8- year-old Girls." Developmental Psychology 42.2 (2006): 283-92. Willett Survey. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
Napolitano, Melissa A., B.A., and Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D. "Distorting Reality For Children: Body Size Proportions Of Barbie And Ken Dolls." International Journal Of Eating Disorders 18.3 (1995): 295-298. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
Pych, Maude Carolan. "Barbies." Paterson Literary Review 39 (2011): 282-283. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
Wolf, Erica. "Barbie: The Early History." Barbie: The Early History. University of Maryland Honors University, 2000. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.