When Barbie was created in 1959, her look consisted of a twirling ponytail and a black and white swimsuit, which was her trademark (Riddick, “Inventing” para 2). Barbie has changed over the years as fashion and teenage trends have shifted. She went from a classy look in the 1960s with a twisting waist, long hair, and bendable legs to being athletic in the 1970s with bendable wrists, elbows, and ankles (Riddick, “Barbie” para 4). In the 1980s, they altered Barbie and gave her an open-mouth smile and brighter eyes (Riddick, “Eighties” para 3). The creators of Barbie decided to modify her clothing in the 1990s, and she began to wear Lee Jeans (Riddick, “Nineties” para 12).

This doll has left psychologists and parents questioning if she is at fault for many female body image problems due to the image her body portrays. According to the University of Alberta Health Center, a woman who is 5’6’’ in height and weighs le

“A child’s world is no longer a simple or carefree place to grow. It has become filled with complex ethical and personal struggles that some find difficult to grapple as adults, let alone as children” (Griffin, para 1). So why do we place things like Barbie in our little girls’ hands? It makes them feel as though they have to be just like her, and if they are not, they are unworthy. We put more pressure on young girls to think they have to be something that they are not. They get enough of that from the media. We need to provide children with alternate images, and show all the different ways real people look and how beautiful and interesting they are (Griffin, para 14).

“Having faced the Barbie body image throughout their childhood, it is no wonder that often by the time they are in fourth grade eighty percent of American girls go on diets. They see their mothers and women on television pursue the quest for a slimmer waistline, and articles about losing weight and feeling great are featured in all girls’ magazines. This is the age when the phrase, “I need to lose weight” becomes a part of girls’ vocabulary” (“Barbie”, para 3).

It is frightening to think of how many young girls play with this doll,

Some topics in this essay:
Health Center, Barbie World, Barbie” Riddick, University Alberta, Jeans Riddick, body image, para 2, griffin para, “barbie” para, riddick “nineties” para, “nineties” para, para 14, percent actually, thankful person, university alberta, girls barbie,