Go Back   the Fashion Spot > the Sidewalk Café > Rumor has it...
Home Links FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Reply to This Discussion
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 31-12-2005   #1
purveyor of high octane

fourboltmain's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: In Hiding
Gender: homme
Posts: 4,155

Research Debunks 'Barbie Ideal'

I thought this was interesting:

"Once again, Barbie was one of the best-selling toys this past holiday season. Mattel's world-famous fashion doll has become a cash cow, selling nearly $2 billion of merchandise each year. Barbie has also become part of many a girl's childhood.


Just before Christmas, however, a team of British researchers announced that many young girls mutilate and torture their Barbie dolls. According to University of Bath researcher Agnes Nairn, "the girls we spoke to see Barbie torture as a legitimate play activity....The types of mutilation are varied and creative, and range from removing the hair to decapitation, burning, breaking, and even microwaving." The reason, Nairn said, was that girls saw Barbie as childish, an inanimate object instead of a treasured toy.


What's this? Aggression against the beloved Barbie, the beaming plastic icon of (allegedy) idealized beauty? Could it be that society has misinterpreted how young girls view Barbie? For decades, journalists and social critics have assumed that young girls idolize Barbie dolls, but little actual research has been done on the topic. In the absence of evidence, assumption and speculation ran rampant.


Barbie has been blamed for a variety of social ills. Time magazine columnist Amy Dickinson claimed in 2000 that "Women my age know whom to blame for our own self-loathing, eating disorders and distorted body image: Barbie." In her feminist best-seller The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf bashes Barbie, and views the doll as an imaginary "ideal" woman. Boston College sociology professor Sharlene Hesse-Biber also believes that Barbie "is the perfect figure presented to little girls as 'ideal.'" The claim is echoed in hundreds of books, Web sites, magazine articles, and television programs.


Yet recent evidence, including the University of Bath study, suggests that the "Barbie ideal" may be a myth. Just because a girl plays with a Barbie doll does not mean she idolizes it or views it as a physical role model. Critics cite statistics such as that if Barbie were real, she couldn't walk upright, or bear children.


But of course Barbie is not real, and was never intended to represent a healthy body or physical ideal. While Barbie has long been badgered about her "unhealthy" shape, no one complains that Mr. Potato Head's tubby physique is even less healthy. Girls are far more intelligent than Barbie critics give them credit for; they know their dolls are just that: dolls.


The girls in the British study are not alone. One adult woman in an informal survey reminisced, "Mostly I helped my brother decapitate Barbies and threw limbs in neighbors' yards. No one told me I should look like Barbie and I never felt like I should look like her." Said another, "I never regarded Barbie as a model for a real person. I actually hated her shape because it made it hard to put clothes on her."


The claim that Barbie can cause eating disorders also rests on shaky assumptions. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are serious diseases that cannot be "caught" from playing with dolls. Research has shown that the disorders are strongly influenced by genetic factors, not thin dolls or media images.

It seems that not a single survey, poll, or study has shown that girls actually want to look like Barbie dolls. In the rush to criticize Barbie and thin images, the assumptions got ahead of the scientific evidence. Eating disorders and self-esteem are important issues, but have little to do with Barbie dolls. So parents can relax: the kids are alright--even if they torture Barbie now and then."

http://www.livescience.com/othernews/051230_barbie.html
__________________
Hey, this is me.


Last edited by fourboltmain : 31-12-2005 at 01:39 PM.
 

Old 31-12-2005   #2
Naturellement pulpeuse

PrinceOfCats's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: Beyond the looking glass (5eme actually)
Gender: femme
Posts: 9,983

Children maul things. I think the feminist subtext is being added at a later date.
__________________
Candy is dandy but sex won't rot your teeth.
 
Old 31-12-2005   #3
rags and mags

finalfashion's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: Toronto Canada
Gender: femme
Posts: 522

I read this article too - I have always been suspicious of the hoopla around Barbie. Killing Barbies was part of the fun... though I was very careful with my favourites.

this is slightly OT but sometimes I think the fall of Barbie was precipitated by the fashions for low-rise pants. Barbie's anatomy makes low-rise looks impossible, and what good is a fashion doll that isn't fashionable? Just a thought.

"I actually hated her shape because it made it hard to put clothes on her"
I remember her wide hip-to-waist ratio being a huge problem when dressing her. Are you listening Mattel?
__________________
final fashion
rags and mags

Last edited by finalfashion : 31-12-2005 at 03:03 PM.
 

Get rid of these ads... register today, it's FREE
Old 31-12-2005   #4
purveyor of high octane

fourboltmain's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: In Hiding
Gender: homme
Posts: 4,155

I used to blow up GI Joes with fireworks myself. I think some people have a vendetta against the doll and therefore try to keep them out of the hands of kids.

It's a shame, it's really only a toy! And little kids realize it, and some adults still don't! Oh well, Mattel did start restyling the Barbie a few years back. They realized she was quite dis-proportionate and started fazing out the hourglass one for a more anatomically realistic one.
__________________
Hey, this is me.

 
Old 31-12-2005   #5
trendsetter

waukon73's Avatar
Profile: 
Gender: femme
Posts: 1,237

Nobody blames G.I.Joe for violence.
__________________
That Said, Man Can Love An Angel, But He's Got To Take The Chance

Always Coming Back Home To You - Atmosphere
 
Old 31-12-2005   #6
tfs star

fashionicon's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: Up On a Cloud
Gender: femme
Posts: 1,631

Quote:
Originally Posted by fourboltmain

It's a shame, it's really only a toy! And little kids realize it, and some adults still don't! Oh well, Mattel did start restyling the Barbie a few years back. They realized she was quite dis-proportionate and started fazing out the hourglass one for a more anatomically realistic one.
Exactly!

It must suck being a little kid nowadays ....
__________________
"Talk to the mirror, oh choke back tears, and keep telling yourself that, "I'm a diva!"
- Panic! At the Disco
 

Get rid of these ads... register today, it's FREE
Old 31-12-2005   #7
Don't Rain On My Parade

masquerade's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: Land of no sales tax
Gender: femme
Posts: 6,081

Quote:
Originally Posted by PrinceOfCats
Children maul things. I think the feminist subtext is being added at a later date.
yeah, that seems to be the case. i mean, kids get curious about what things do, so maybe theyll do it to their toys.
__________________
Check out my blog with kevinnn > Kevily's Thoughts and Opinions on Fashin
I was following the pack all swallowed in their coats with scarves of red tied ’round their throats to keep their little heads from fallin’ in the snow and I turned ’round and there you go and, Michael, you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime..
 
Old 31-12-2005   #8
V.I.P.

Trista's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: Seattle area
Gender: femme
Posts: 3,676
Status: Online

And the traditional Barbies aren't the big ones-it's the My Scene and Bratz dolls. They are skinny but not the abnormally-skinny traditional Barbie.

I still have some from when I was younger and I might buy a current one to see how it has changed.
__________________
I am always right. Deal with it.
mandzhieva*peppey*burdeu*d.miller*poly*nasenyana
 
Old 31-12-2005   #9
Seductress in Eden

Missoni~Heiress's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: Beverly Hills
Gender: femme
Posts: 7,060

Why is everyone being so mean to barbie microwaving her
 

Get rid of these ads... register today, it's FREE
Old 31-12-2005   #10
____chaste____

Spike413's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: New York
Gender: homme
Posts: 11,096

Oh that article brought back fond memories, I actually smiled to myself when they mentioned mutilating Barbie.....good times

But seriously, it's about time that people realize that you can't blame a doll for something like an eating disorder. I mean, would you rip the legs off of something you idolize and throw it down the stairs?
__________________
Now what the hell is the difference between a painting done by someone who chooses to paint like a child, and a child's painting? - Patsy Stone

my blog - random musings of a fashion fiend
 
Old 31-12-2005   #11
V.I.P.

snowqueen's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: amongst the paint pots
Gender: femme
Posts: 6,134

guilty as charged ... !! all my barbies were punks or goths with short choppy hair, dyed using felt tips, then various tattoos and piercings drawn on.
Then i completly destroyed them by any means possible lol :P
__________________
♥ ♥ aka tiamaria♥ ♥
 
Old 31-12-2005   #12
V.I.P.

nextnewface's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: France, quelque part dans les traboules
Gender: femme
Posts: 4,713

Wow, aren't some people exagerating a bit!

Barbies hehe... I loved playing with them... I think that's when my love for fashion began... I always wanted more Barbie clothes for my dolls Mine didn't suffer too much... in fact, I was abusing them in an entirely different way... I was always having them make out with each others... Barbies with Kens, or 2 Barbies together, sometimes many at a time...

Hehe, I was such a wicked child Young pervert
__________________
Current crushes: ♥Sasha, Coco, Raquel, Eugenia, Taryn, Karlie, Irina K, Cate C, Simona M, Lera S
Your clothes are all made by Balmain and there's diamonds and pearls in your hair...
 

Get rid of these ads... register today, it's FREE
Old 01-01-2006   #13
trendsetter

waukon73's Avatar
Profile: 
Gender: femme
Posts: 1,237

^^Hehe, my barbies had sex ed.
__________________
That Said, Man Can Love An Angel, But He's Got To Take The Chance

Always Coming Back Home To You - Atmosphere
 
Old 01-01-2006   #14
etre soi-meme

Lena's Avatar
Profile: 
Location: europe
Gender: femme
Posts: 23,707

my godchild (she's 7) totally hates barbie, she's into the MyScene dolls and nothing else will do, i believe its a fashion/make up element that matters to her, she sure hasnt got a clue on anti-barbie feminist issues yet..
__________________
lighten up
 
Old 01-01-2006   #15
V.I.P.

lemeray's Avatar
Profile: 
Gender: femme
Posts: 10,483

Barbie's are so last year.
 

Get rid of these ads... register today, it's FREE
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
What Is Your Theme Song? heynicepants the Art of Noise 78 05-07-2007 08:48 AM
Mattel launches designer Barbie clothes for women Echoes Designers and Collections 28 04-01-2006 09:55 PM
Barbie Luxe... softgrey Designers and Collections 29 06-11-2005 08:36 AM







Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.0 RC1

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:23 AM.


 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
http://www.thefashionspot.com/terms