As we look more this week into body image and the young child, I really want parents to start thinking about what their children, but specifically their girls, are exposed to in terms of toys, stories, and media that might shape the way a child perceives their body should look. We’re seeing startling statistics about childhood obesity and childhood eating disorders, and I’m left scratching my head how we got here. How does an 8 year old become anorexic? Why are 81% of fourth graders afraid of getting fat? Why am I struggling to find words for parents who email me, distraught their 5 or 6yo girl has expressed not liking herself because she feels she is fat?
Just over a month ago the hot topic of conversation was the Life Size Barbie constructed by college student Galia Slayen. Galia had battled her own eating disorder, and now with clear heart and eyes she shows us Barbie in a whole new way:
Real Barbie scares me. Real Galia is beautiful.
The media hub was “Does Barbie Cause Eating Disorders” and more inanity meant to scare parents, but not really educate them. I’m no expert on Eating Disorders, and in fact, I don’t completely understand them. There are many things that need to be present for an Eating Disorder to manifest itself in a person. Barbie alone is not responsible…..Genetic, environmental, and psychological factorsall play into manifestation, though Barbie doesn’t get off scot-free as she is definitely a trigger.
Barbie remains uninvited to my home to play. Why? Because I respect my daughter and her girlhood, and do not want it tainted with toxic messages of vapid beauty, consumerism, and age-inappropriate sexiness. I think the messages we give our children in their early years lay groundwork for who we want them to become. I’ve never heard anyone directly connect their Eating Disorder to playing with Barbie. Then again, I’ve never heard anyone direclty connect their life-long religion to the bedtime prayers they said as a child. Groundwork – for a lifetime. Think about it.
I thought Galia’s project and her story are fantastic, and I really admire her. You who else I think is particularly clever? The three daughters of Dr. Jen Shewmaker, a professor from Texas who writes on sexualization and media. I asked her to get the opinions of her daughters on Galia’s Life Size Barbie. Jen points out the developmental differences in how they look at this is interesting. Proof in the pudding you can raise resilient and critically thinking girls inside this Cult of Thinness we live in:
“I like the real life Barbie because her chest is so big and she is tall and skinny and funny!!!!! And she is also funny because it is weird compared to the small Barbies. I like it. I think it shows that real people can’t look like Barbie. It is funny!!!!!!!!!!!” -Allie 6 years old
“Today I was looking at my real Barbie and her waist. I started thinking about the “Real Life” Barbie. I had never really realized how small her waist was and how big her chest was compared to the rest of her body. I was thinking, that’s not really realistic. The “Real Life” Barbie looks weird. I wouldn’t want to look like that. The real girl standing beside her looks a lot better than she does.” -Catherine, 9 years old
“Wow. It’s sad that little girls look at their Barbies and think something like “I wish I could look as pretty as her”, while if she were real, Barbie would be crawling around on her hands and knees. It’s like poison to their minds, and even at the age of 3, 4, or 5 they start believing they’re not good enough.” -Rylan, 11
See what I mean? Those girls are clever! So what does your daughter have to say about this? Do you have a Barbie at home that you can compare with Galia’s Barbie? Have you started talking to your daughter about this? By the way, age 2 or 3 is a good time to start.
If your daughter is old enough to have a conversation like the one Jen did with girl wonder super stars Allie, Catherine, and Rylan….let us know what she said! This group isn’t going to change our culture of how it views women, thinness, and beauty, but we CAN change the way we take all of that in and how it affects us. And we can give that gift to our daughters.
(Psst — you can also have this convo with your boys. I don’t want your son being disappointed my daughter doens’t look like Barbie when they get crushes on each other in sixth grade.)
10 Responses to “Real Life Girls take on Real Life Barbie”
Leave a Reply
Real Barbie creeps me out. My daughter and I loved Groovy Girls when she was young. Biggest plus – we found a pattern template and could actually make clothes that they could wear. Because Barbie is soooo tiny, her curves are so tight and her body is rock hard it is almost impossible to actually make clothes for her unless you are already a skilled seamstress and have a special tiny sewing machine accessories or the time for excessive handwork. My daughter was (and still is) very interested in the fun part of fashion – designing it! So Groovy Girls were just a better choice all around.
[Reply]
melissa Reply:
May 12th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Virginia -
We love Groovy Girls and Sophie & Lili dolls at our house!
[Reply]
I asked my 9 year old to look as this picture.
This is what she said.
“Her head is so little and freaky. Her Boobs are giant! Where does she keep her brain?”
[Reply]
melissa Reply:
May 12th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Elissa -
“Where does she keep her brain” – that cracked me up. Maybe in her giant boobs?
[Reply]
Thank you so much for pointing out this issue. New moon Magazine’s theme is Inner beauty and our creator comments on this issue as well on her blog,http://blogs.newmoon.com/luna-blog/2011/body-image-and-barbie/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+newmoon%2FPabI+%28New+Moon+Blog%29, please check it out if you have the time.
[Reply]
I didn’t have a real Barbie growing up, we had her cheap, ugly cousin from the department store! Anyhow I never felt that is what I should look like growing up. I don’t think Barbie is so much to blame as the way the media portraits women as having to be skinny, blonde, beautiful and rich!
[Reply]
Let’s see, if the doll actually looks like this: http://toys.about.com/od/dolls/ig/Barbie-Pictures/Quintessential-Barbie.htm
Then why would it suddenly be all out of proportion when made bigger? That’s not how proportional representation works. You can’t change the size of one thing more than its relation to another (e.g. the head must grow at the same proportional rate to the legs, waist, etc.).
I am in no way defending “Barbie” as a good model for girls, but good grief — even my seven year old can look at that picture and realize that whoever made the life-size version did a pretty lousy job of proportional representation.
[Reply]
My 9 year old says: “When I look at that Barbie, the normal small Barbie looks more real than the life sized Barbie – why didn’t they make it look like the smaller doll?”
(She’s referring to the “I Can Be Barbie…” series of Barbies, with jobs, etc., like Doctor, Architect, Computer Engineer, Teacher, and others…)
[Reply]
This song by Christine Kane has one of my favorite Barbie portraits!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxQ695Mp0t4
[Reply]
It is likely that the “Real Life” Barbie was created from the older models of Barbie (i.e. 90s models).
At any rate, current Barbie is still largely out of proportions:
http://tinyurl.com/7ed9m5w
[Reply]