Barbie, Our Beautiful Anorexic Cultural Beauty Icon...

The Barbie obsession started with her introduction to the United States toy market in 1959. From then on, Barbie became a cultural icon of female beauty. Most young girls growing up have on average between eight and 10 Barbie dolls. In 1999 only 1% of girls did not own any Barbie dolls.

             Barbie’s popularity with young girls is extraordinary, which is good for Mattel, her creator. In 2003, Barbie products grossed $1.5 billion in annual sales. Barbie is a staple play toy for most young girls, but is she merely just a play toy? Or is Barbie actually causing a negative body image and potentially priming these young girls for eating disorders in their future?

             As your child is playing with their doll, think about this. If Barbie were a real person her waist would be 39% smaller than that of an anorexic women. Her body weight would be so low, that she would be unable to menstruate. Barbie’s body proportions are extremely unrealistic, virtually unattainable, and most importantly unhealthy.

            Now you maybe thinking, so what? My young child does not think about body image, she is too young! I would urge you to think again, studies have shown that children as young as age 4 to favor a thin body.

            A recent study in 2006, by Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive explored the immediate effects that Barbie dolls have on young girls. The study also explored the potential effects that the Emme doll, a doll based on full figured proportions, also has on girls. Young girls between ages 5 ½ to 7 ½ were exposed to either a Barbie or Emme doll. The study found that, Barbie dolls specifically had a direct impact on young girls’ body image. Exposure to Barbie lowered the girl’s body esteem and lowered their satisfaction with their own body size causing them to desire a thinner body. Unfortunately, a solution could not be found with exposure to the Emme doll. Girls that were exposed to the Emme doll did not prevent body dissatisfaction. In older girls (6 ½ - 7 ½ ) it actually had the opposite impact and a caused higher body dissatisfaction. This led the researchers to believe that older girls already had a thin body ideal and the Emme doll was became a figure of someone they hoped to not look like.

            These results are extremely shocking. Barbie has become a role model for young girls at a terrible cost. Playing with Barbie could potentially lead to consequences such as depression, unhealthy eating habits and in the future an eating disorder. Girls learn to desire a thin body ideal at a young age and this stays with them until they are older. TV and other media are constantly bombarding girls with unhealthy body images and ideals, that there is no way they could unlearn what they learned as normal, when they were playing with Barbie at age five. Barbie is what they are supposed to look like when they grow up, and this is only further perpetuated by exposure to the extremely thin actresses and models that become their role models when they are older.

            How can we change this? Barbie has been around for over 50 years and is an extremely successful product for Mattel. I would say there is a definite need for change. Does this change lie in the hands of the parents not buying the product or is it Mattel’s responsibility to make Barbie more realistic? Would this even help? I can honestly say, I am not sure, but someone needs to do something. Girls need to learn what a healthy body looks like, not an unhealthy one.

- Allison Rooney

Dittmar, H., Halliwell, E., & Ive, S. (2006). 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), 283-292.