The Negative Effects of Barbie

1065 Words5 Pages
Since the creation of the Barbie doll in 1959 by Mattel Inc., the public has scrutinized the doll for her impractical body proportions and excessive wardrobe, accessories, and lifestyle. Perhaps Barbie is more than just a toy, she may have a prominent influence and psychological effect on the children that play with her. Barbie’s unrealistic body proportions have created a negative influence for young girls, causing them to feel self-conscious of their body image. The negative psychological effects of the Barbie doll on young girls have been recorded by psychology professors Helga Dittmar, Susan Ive, and Emma Halliwell. In their 2006 psychological experiment, 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, “a total of 162 girls, from ages 5 to age 8, were exposed to images of either Barbie Dolls, Emme dolls (U.S. size 16), or no dolls (baseline control) and then completed assessments of body image” (283). The professors found that those exposed to Barbie doll images produced “lower self-esteem and a greater desire for a thinner body shape than in the other exposed conditions.” The professors study concluded that “these findings imply that, even if dolls cease to function as aspirational role models for older girls, early exposure to dolls epitomizing an unrealistically thin body ideal may damage girls’ body image, which would contribute to an increased risk of disordered eating and weight cycling” (283). Being exposed at a young age to this doll that portrays the so called “perfect body” instills into the mind of young girls that that is how their body should look, and causes them to feel insecure if they don’t have a Barbie body. This can then lead young girls to believe that the only solution is to change their bodies, either by developing eating disorders or by receiving
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