Throughout my childhood, I was constantly exposed to the portrayal of womanhood featuring short skirts, tiny waists, large breasts, and flawlessly airbrushed smiling faces. These images were consistently present on television, across bus advertisements, billboards, magazines, and various other platforms.
Why do so many teenage girls struggle with their self-image and weight? One factor could be the limited portrayal of feminine beauty – a baby pink color, blonde hair, blue eyes. This description brings to mind the beloved plastic childhood toy that greets us with a smile in the brightly colored aisles of Wal-Mart: Barbie. From my early years, I have witnessed society’s message that Barbie’s features represent the ultimate standard of beauty for women. Thin waists and large breasts have emerged as the ideal image of femininity. Unconsciously, society has encouraged women to prioritize their appearance, resulting in what I see as a social illness.
Barbie was an early advocate of the “beauty myth,” promoting unrealistic body standards. If Barbie were a real person, she would be too thin to accommodate all her internal organs and too busty to stand on her own. She lived in a pink palace, rode a pink corvette, and had a molded man named Ken. Barbie taught me that everyone in society was living a similar life.
The responsibility for the beauty myth cannot be solely placed on Barbie. Other dolls also contributed to this idea, with their focus on makeup, hair styling, and shopping. Barbie changed society’s perception of femininity. Although there is now more diversity in dolls, most still have perfect white skin. Barbie remains the ultimate symbol of pink, unrealistic body ideals, designer clothing, and shopping centers. These images are pervasive in advertisements, television shows, movies, and billboards.
Barbie’s contribution to the problem may be so significant that she may be considered the root cause of this situation. The culture has led to more women associating their insecurities with their negative body image. A lawsuit against Mattel resulted in changes being made to Barbie, including reducing the size of her breasts and adding some extra weight to her waist. However, these alterations do not serve as a remedy for the beauty myth ingrained in North American culture.
At least an attempt has been made at some reforms, which I suppose is a starting point.
