Blogpost 1: Barbie Syndrome

Every girl needs compliments. The praises give them satisfying feeling and boosts their self-esteem. Unfortunately, teenagers nowadays stress over their fat thighs, untoned belly, double chin and being overweight. And then, there's Barbie. The famous 50-year-old plastic doll with unrealistic body proportions manufactured by Mattel, Inc. whose market are girls ages 3-7 years old. But what if this doll isn't just a toy? Maybe she has a great influence on these young girls minds. These kids will eventually turn in to women and so as they grow old they bring with them the "physical perfection" mindset. "Barbie Syndrome" is used to depict the desire to have physical appearance and lifestyle representative of the Barbie doll. A person with this syndrome attempts to emulate the doll's physical appearance, even though the doll has unattainable body proportions. The effects of Barbie on body image runs deeper than you think.

Barbie Syndrome

I have read an article entitled, "Barbie Flu' Spreading in Ukraine", written by Katya Soldak, from the site www.forbes.com.

The article talks about Ukrainian girls who altered their appearance just to look like Barbie. The main topic is Anime, a 19-year-old makeup artist and hairdresser. It also talked about Anime's friend, Valeriya Lukyanova also known as Barbie who has already made publicity due to her Barbie physique. Anime spends hours applying makeup so she usually wakes up early. Her diet only consists of fruit and vegetables. She dresses unconventionally and paints her face extremely so she could get the perfect look. Unlike Anime, her friend known as "Barbie", has already undergone breast surgeries to accentuate her "barbieness." She even had to take a couple of ribs out in order to achieve her perfect figure. Anime is lost in her dream and plays like she's a princess in her own fairytale. She's a young confused girl  and insecure about her skin and physique. In the article, Anime said, the world is cruel and is full of unhappy people and it’s easier to live the way she does, creating a fairy tale for herself.
 

Soldak said, "What is it that makes these girls turn themselves into living dolls? A struggle for perfection or escape from reality? It seems to have a connection to “Barbie doll syndrome” – when young girls try to attain impossible standards of beauty."

Anime and Barbie, the living dolls

It was clear that people with the so-called Barbie Syndrome strive hard to achieve the "barbie" look. Because of the dolls unconventional physique, some girls with this syndrome even undergo plastic surgery. They are focused on a diet so they could maintain their slim body. They spend too much time putting makeup on so the could get Barbie's full lips and wide eyes. It is truly not easy to achieve perfection. But what if the syndrome might be a way of escaping reality? This may be the elucidation to why people want perfection so bad, they'd do anything to achieve it. Maybe they're tired of a world full of criticism. Discrimination is innate in us anyway. It's like we're born to judge people's personality and looks.So, it will be easier to live in a fairytale you made for yourself, not paying attention to other people's comments.

I also read one article entitled, "Barbie And Body Image", by Scott Mogul from the site www.mirorr-mirror.org.

Mattel's Barbie VS. Normal barbie

It talked about how barbies and our view on physical appearance is connected. The doll has set an obnoxious body standard to women causing eating disorders. Not everyone is easily influenced by the toy, but children are influenced with the toys they play. The average girls ages three to eleven own 10 or more barbies. Those girls most probably grow up surrounded with barbie dolls. This may be one factor on why most of the female population look up to barbies as their model.  A study mentioned in this article states, more than half women ages 18-25 would rather get their self killed than be overweight.

Mogul stated, "So what do Barbie dolls teach children about the world? They teach children it is desirable to be thin, very thin. They teach children to strive for unrealistic body image."

The effects of Barbie may have gotten too far. This caused young girls to inculcate in their mind that if you're not stick thin, you're ugly. If you don't look like a model, you don't fit in and you can't be beautiful. It somehow affects our preview on physical look. Because girls tend to look for something that would boost their self-esteem they  would do things such as starving their self. They do this to attain the barbie physique because that is what more than half of the population thinks pretty.

We sometimes forget that it isn't always about perfection but being contented with yourself because we're accustomed to look for the standards Barbie has set.

So what do Barbie dolls teach children about the world? They teach children that it is desirable to be thin, very thin. They teach children to strive for an unrealistic body image. - See more at: http://www.mirror-mirror.org/barbie-and-body-image.htm#sthash.O3pgBOyc.dpuf

So what do Barbie dolls teach children about the world? They teach children that it is desirable to be thin, very thin. They teach children to strive for an unrealistic body image. - See more at: http://www.mirror-mirror.org/barbie-and-body-image.htm#sthash.O3pgBOyc.dpufIt mentioned a woman who has been heavily influenced by barbies, Cindy Jackson. According to the article, Cindy Jackson sets World record with 52 plastic Surgeries, Cosmetic procedure from the site: abcnews.go.com, the title says it all. She is famous for setting the world for undergoing through knife 52 times to look youger and in the attempt of

So what do Barbie dolls teach children about the world? They teach children that it is desirable to be thin, very thin. They teach children to strive for an unrealistic body image. - See more at: http://www.mirror-mirror.org/barbie-and-body-image.htm#sthash.O3pgBOyc.dpu

Barbie And Body Image