Barbie’s Effect on
Young Girls
Lauren Mortenson
English 102, Section 5232
Why This is a Big Issue
• Barbie is a popular doll that is commonly
the first thing that young girls play with.
• Certain celebrities are changing
themselves into real life Barbie dolls.
• Body image is a popular issue in today’s
society.
Barbie
• “The Barbie doll is
one of the most
successful toys of the
20th century and,
arguably, the icon of
female beauty and
the American dream”
(Rogers 1999).
Barbie’s Proportions
• “Among the changes
necessary were for the
female to increase 24 in.
in height, 5 in. in the
chest, and 3.2 in. in neck
length, while decreasing
6 in. in the waist, and for
the male to increase 20
in. in height, 11 in. in the
chest, and 7.9 in. in neck
circumference” (Brownell
& Napolitano 1995).
Girl’s Reality
• Girls may not get full
negative effect when
very young.
• As girls get older they
realize that they are
able to change the
way they look.
• Girls become more
aware of what society
thinks is the “ideal”
body image.
Body Dissatisfaction
• It has been proven
that many girls have a
higher body
dissatisfaction when
playing with Barbie
dolls.
• The graph to the right
shows that Barbie’s
have a strong effect
on young girls when
they are just starting
school.
What Girls Want!
As younger girl’s get older they start
focusing a lot on their physical
appearance. Many girls and women today
all want the same thing. They want to be
skinny, popular, liked by the opposite sex,
and to be beautiful. Barbie gives them that
image of what they “want” to look like.
Barbie’s Image
Characteristics of Barbie
Tall
Skinny
Blonde
Big Breasts
Perky
Celebrities and the Barbie Image
• Today, most celebrities seem to all want
the same look.
• There are many celebrities that strive to
look just like the Barbie figure.
• Celebrity Examples: Pamela Anderson,
Jennifer Ellison, and Victoria Silvstedt.
Barbie Syndrome
What is it?
• “Barbie syndrome is a term used to loosely
describe the desire to have a physical
appearance and lifestyle representative of
the famous Barbie doll.”
• “Someone afflicted with Barbie syndrome
strives for an unattainable body type.”
Sarah Burge
“Almost 40 years on and
after 27 procedures have
already topped more than
£180,000-worth of
surgery. So much so that
the media have called me
‘The Real Life Barbie’.
But I’m more plastic than
Barbie ... and I love it!” –
Sarah Burge
Mattel’s Efforts
• Makers of Barbie have tried to make
Barbie better by:
– Making Barbie’s of different cultures.
– Dressing them in all types of outfits.
– Having Barbie’s have different careers.
– Making disabled Barbie’s.
– Making all Barbie products diverse.
Better Messages but Still the Same
• Efforts have been made by the makers of
Barbie to make them better for children to
play with.
• However, the main issue has not been
changed: the size of Barbie.
• She still has the same proportions.
What Needs to be Done
• To solve this issue the makers of Barbie
really need to work on making the size of
Barbie comparable to the size of an
average woman.
• Also, if parents of young girls are worried
what effect Barbie dolls will have on their
children then they should limit the time that
they play with these dolls.
Work Cited
Brownell, Kelly D., Melissa A. Napolitano, Myriam Mongrain, and Julie Van Der
Feen.
"Distorting Reality for Children: Body Size Proportions of
Barbie and Ken
Dolls." International Journal of Eating Disorders 18.3
(1995): 295-298. Academic
Search Premier. EBSCO. University of
Arizona Library, Tucson. 1 July 2007.
Burge, Sarah. "Cosmetic Surgery." Real Life Barbie. 9 July 2007. 13 July 2007
<http://www.reallifebarbie.com/html/cosmetic_surgery.html>.
Munger, Dave. "What Barbie Does for a Little Girl's Body Image." Cognitive
Daily. 19
Apr. 2006. Science Blogs LLC. 13 July 2007
<http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2006/04/post_1.php>.
Rogers, A. (1999). Barbie culture. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Rozwadowski, Elena, and Elizabeth Cook. "Finding a Solution for Eating
Disorders."
Eating Disorders. 13 Oct. 2006. The Minnesota Daily. 13 July
2007
<http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/10/13/69379>.
"Barbie." Wikipedia. 10 July 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 16 July 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie>.