Why Barbie Is Not A Good Role Model!
We live in a society full of superficial beauty and unrealistic expectations. We see women in magazines with photoshopped bodies and edited facial features. However, most of us don’t view them as “fake.” We see them as the idealistic appearance of what a “beautiful” woman is and what we should be striving for.
Instead of seeing them as uniquely individual and beautiful people, we only see how close to perfection they outwardly appear. Why don’t we see them for who they truly are? I believe one major contributing factor in this skewed misconception of body image is from the Barbie doll.
Mirror Mirror, a healthy body image website, stated that, “if Barbie was a real woman, she would be 5’6” and weigh 120 pounds. Her body fat percentage would be so low that she would not be able to menstruate. Her measurements would be 38-18-34. The average woman’s measurements, on the other hand, are about 41-34-43.”
From an early age, little girls are bombarded with images of what the idealistic girl and women should look like even though it is next to impossible to achieve.
Barbie is a blonde, beautiful young woman with an impossibly anorexic figure. Little girls don’t understand the problem behind the plastic; they see a fun doll to play with. That is the problem.
Girls play with Barbies as if they were their friends or sometimes themselves. They pretend to live in a world that is perceived to be “better” than the reality of the world that surrounds them.
Some skeptics may argue that Barbie is just a toy and has nothing to do with reality. However, every child is influenced by the toys they play with. That’s why society is constantly giving children toys that are designed to prepare them for their adult life. Toys such as doctor’s kits, plastic kitchens, shopping carts, and baby dolls are all components to steering a child into typical and stereotypcial adult lives.
Unfortunately, some women have taken Barbie to a whole new level. Valeria Valeryevna Lukyanova, a Moldovan-Ukrainian model and entertainer, won the Ukrainian national beauty contest Miss Diamond Crown of Ukraine in 2007. She models herself after the Barbie doll. Kayleigh Dray, a journalist for Closer wrote an article on women as “human Barbies.” According to Dray, Lukyanova famously said: “Look, to me the Barbie doll looks perfect; it was created as a human idol. When I adopted her image, it felt very positive.” 
She claims that the only surgery she has had were breast implants. She achieves her “Barbie look” through makeup and large colored contact lenses, which she wears over her green eyes.
Obviously, not all children are going to take Barbie to this extreme. Yet, this story highlights the effect the Barbie doll can have on a little girl’s perception on what beauty should be.
The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness reports that, “70 million people worldwide suffer from eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. About 90 percent of those with eating disorders are young women between the ages of 12 and 25.”
An unhealthy body image is a huge problem in our society. I don’t believe Barbies should be completely eliminated, but I think they need to be re-evaluated. The Lammily doll, a more realistic Barbie doll, is a great alternative.
Nickolay Lamm, a graphic designer told The Washington Post that he created the Lammily doll because he wanted to send a message that “reality can be beautiful.” Lammily is a doll without make-up, that has stretch marks, and even a few extra pounds.
When children got the opportunity to play with the Lammily doll, they loved her. The young children had such remarks such as “She looks like me,” and “I think she looks beautiful and realistic.”
The concept behind Barbie as a doll to play with provides many hours of fun for young children. However, let’s give kids some positive reinforcement and a doll they can realistically relate to.
zack • Sep 21, 2017 at 7:51 pm
Why do we not have this same discussion about superman action figures?
Naeun Kim • Apr 16, 2015 at 9:05 am
Hi Maggie! I really liked this topic. I agree with your article. In our society now, even the children and young people are beautiful enough, there are unrealistic expectations for their appearance. That Barbie doll is just a “doll”! It should not bring misconception of body image in reality. Unrealistically high expectations of their body image may lead people to suffer eating disorder. Also, I think those perspective makes higher percentage of plastic surgery. It is too bad that people don’t like their image themselves. You’re article is very persuasive! As you write, I also think we need to accept our natural image and fix those barbie doll image as idol.
Talia Morris • Apr 15, 2015 at 8:12 am
This article opened my eyes to many more views on the Barbie doll, and how it can negatively effect a child’s mind towards their body image. I agree with what Maggie stated in her article about Barbie being an unrealistic role model. The way the doll looks makes children self-conscience about their own features, and can lead them into eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Most children do not take it to this extreme, but it still makes them feel negatively towards themselves. As a child, I remember playing with Barbie dolls, and thinking that she was the most perfect human being. Even though I knew she was not real, I still thought she was the definition of perfect. Although she did not effect me in a negative way, I remember plenty of my friends that took her features to heart, and truly thought they were ugly compared to her. This article was extremely well written and I agree with the author completely.
Zoe Makuch • Apr 15, 2015 at 8:12 am
I completely agree with the topic of this article. From a young age, I never grew up playing with Barbie’s until I had seen them at my close friend’s house. This was because my mother also believed them to be unrealistic ideals that did not need to be introduced. She did not have an issue with me playing with them, but she had reminded me even at a young age that they were just toys and were not what people looked like. I personally think that since I did not play with Barbie’s as a child it has had a positive effect. This Barbie doll issue has become even worse. Today Barbie’s have skimpier clothing and more makeup caked onto their faces. Although some people argue that Barbie has no effect on little girls it completely does. Little girls are immediately growing up to think that Barbie is beautiful and she is what they aspire to be, nothing else is good enough. This is completely detrimental to woman because once that idea is set, it become almost near to impossible to correct. Barbie is an issue and some changes should be made to Barbie in order to make her a more realistic, less idealized, toy.
Maggie Palmer • Apr 14, 2015 at 11:15 am
Thank you for responding to my article everyone! I’m glad you enjoyed reading the crown and brought some of your own ideas to the discussion. Keep reading the crown and commenting!
Niamh • Apr 14, 2015 at 12:26 am
Dear Editor,
I agree with the argument made in this article. I think it is atrocious that we as women live in a society where we feel pressured to be a certain size or look a certain way. The “ideal body” has become a feat that is only attainable through surgery. It is not possible to have a pencil thin waist and a big chest or butt. But this is what Barbie portrays, is it not? I agreed with the point that giving young children Barbies to play with is dangerous because it gives them a false and unattainable sense of perfection. They grow up with the idea in their heads that they should be skinny just like Barbie. This leads to greater problems later in life such as anorexia or other eating disorders. Take the Ukranian model for example. She took the idea of what she thought to be the perfect body based off of Barbie – an idea she probably carried from her childhood. I think it is twisted that we are giving these toys to young children who are so easily influenced into thinking one way or another. I think that giving children toys that are beneficial to their development is a better choice than giving them a toy that might cause them to self-destruct later in life.
Alexus Renee Rdditt • Apr 13, 2015 at 2:01 pm
Dear editor,
I love this article! I was actually looking at an article about that lady that looks like barbie. I think that she is lying about not having plastic surgery besids her boobs. I dont even understand why she even wants to look like barbie. I dont understand why people are trying to look like barbie. God made different sized people. It would be weird if everybody had the same body. Not all guys like skinny girls. I love my curvy body and my boyfriend does too. Yes, i do want to loose weight but not to the point where I would end up looking like a skeleton. I also want to keep my curves. I know that everyone is different but people need to stop letting other people get to them because its just going to bring them down. I also love how you put a picture of how barbie would actually look like if she was a human. I mean the actually barbie stomache could be real because of the “waist trainers” that people invented. I like the barbie that they made. She looks like she could be real because she weighs as much as an average person. I feel like society tries to make us think that we need to be perfect. But what is perfect? I feel like everyone is perfect. You dont have to be stick thin and skinny face just to be perfect. Like I said earlier, God made everyne different for a reason.
Fiona Hoxha • Apr 13, 2015 at 8:48 am
“Why Barbie Is Not A Good Role Model”
There are many people who share the belief that Barbie is a bad image for young girls due to her unachievable looks and body weight. I do agree to some extent that there is some reason to be concerned with the way a girl views herself as well as the way she views a Barbie doll. However, the fact of the matter is that’s all she is… A doll. There is no reason for society to look at a Barbie and explain the reasons why she is the issue for girls self-conscience issues. People need a scapegoat, someone to blame, for the reasons girls act the way they do in regards to their bodies so they simply use a Barbie doll. There is no reason that a piece of plastic with hair should be to blame for the undeniable self image issue prevalent in our society.
Emma Gauthier • Apr 13, 2015 at 8:39 am
I agree that these “role models” aren’t real and shouldn’t be viewed as models because they are fake. The idea for girls now a days is that they must be thin and curvy, while still keeping the face perfect as well. All this is damaging for girls to see because that’s what girls expect their bodies to be when really, that is imperfect and unobtainable unless you go to extremes such as surgery. When they showed the human Barbie, I thought that she looked pretty but there was something missing; as if she was missing apart of her soul. Her outer looks looked so fake that I couldn’t see past her body; that her natural looks were completely gone and left a big plain Barbie doll. This is a perfect example of why girls need to be given a different role model, such as the realistic and average looking doll that many girls can relate to and feel better about their looks. The looks girls should see are natural body shapes that don’t involve a lot of curves or full breaststroke; the face should have regular skin and hair that can be worn normally. Make up shouldn’t be an issue either on the doll because a girl should be seen pretty without makeup.
Sophia Viramontes • Apr 13, 2015 at 8:37 am
I agree with Maggie. From a young age girls are given unrealistic role models to look up to. This can influence a girl heavily through out her adolescence leaving her with issues that may interfere with life down the road. I believe that we should be taught from a young age to be healthy and how to love ourselves as we are. We should not feel obligated to make alterations to our bodies or constantly scrutinized every imperfection. We create imperfections in our minds because although each person is not perfect, we are uniquely perfect in our own ways. Also knowing no accepting this can prevent a warped view of bodies preventing eating disorders which could be deadly if not treated. I believe that in doing these thing, we can form stronger self confidence for generations to come. What we learn is embedded in society, therefore it is crucial that we start the reform of self image.
Grady Oller • Apr 13, 2015 at 8:36 am
Isn’t it initially the parent that buys their child a Barbie doll? Maybe it’s because of good advertising but it seems as though everyone has heard of a Barbie doll whereas not everyone has heard of a Lammily doll. It is a recent discover that childhood anorexia could even be linked to the livelihood of a doll. Sure it should be taken seriously, seeing as though anorexia is no joke, but to blame such a serious disorder on a plastic doll is a bit far fetched in my mind.