A Mamamia reader emailed us about the new Barbie ad saying how incensed she was about it:
“PLS PLS PLS talk about the new barbie ad,” she wrote. “It’s all about how girls can be whatever they want to be. Except, short, fat etc….(not stated but implied). Give me a break. I’m so angry about this ad.”
Here it is:
Hmmm, smacks of Barbie tries to do a Dove. Not authentic. Not to me. But not at all offensive. Doesn’t make me angry. Just think it’s a bit of a stretch, linking female empowerment with Barbie. Although as I wrote here, I was interested to note that the Barbie’s in my daughter’s DVDs are pretty much the only female characters in animated stories who DO stuff instead of just waiting around to be saved by a male character.
Here is another recent Barbie ad:
From the same campaign, the public have chosen Barbies next careers, interestingly the most popular choice was computer engineer and girls’ vote went to news anchor.
What do you think? Love? Loathe? Or Care Factor Zero?
. Love or loathe this ad? on http://www.mamamia.com.au){kind=link}
Comments
202 Comments so far
Care factor: Zer0
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I think the new Barbies are fantastic because they glamourise intellegence. Sometimes girls think they want to pursue the careers that suggest a lifestyle of the rich and/or famous and they aspire towards stereotypical occupations. Previously there was never an Engineering or Accounting Barbie to assist making the subjects sexy at school, but there was Ballerina Barbie and Bikini Barbie. By marrying beauty and brains you get a much more positive message than only marketing the housewife Barbie of yesteryear. (Not that there is anything wrong with being a housewife at all, I’m just encouraging choice).
More than anything, the role of positive self-perception starts in the home, not on the shelf at Toys R Us. Barbie should inspire, but she shouldn’t set a benchmark that’s unexplained and unexplored within the family unit.
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Well Barbie is a much better role model than Wendy, Bob the Builder’s sidekick. Wendy follows Bob’s orders and is hopelessly in love with Bob – at least Barbie is her own person and has a sidekick in Ken rather than vice versa.
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My eating disorder was not caused by Barbie – I never really played with her. As a child, I just assumed that the makers of Barbie doll had really poor quality moulds or something and that was why her proportions were strange.
To be honest I think beauty pageants are a much bigger concern than Barbie.
Please read my response to a comment below.
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Barbies doesn’t need an apostrophe
it’s a plural.
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What’s with that anyway? I don’t understand why people started using an apostrophe for plurals. It just looks silly!
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I am 38 years old and never had a barbie although I desperately wanted one. I was telling my husband all about one day – don’t know how it came up in conversation – and so Santa decided to bring me one 4 Christmas! Just love it!!
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Worst topic in 2011. C’mon sisters there are a million better things to discuss than Barbie dolls.
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Barbie-is pretty doesn’t make her bad. Give me sweet barbie over scanty Bratz any day. I regularly bin the brats stuff my daughter is given when she isn’t looking.
As for Barbie not being realistic- would you prefer obese barbie? With matching tv and remote control, and packet of chips? Hardly aspirational. Who wants and ugly doll with acne or stretch marks and uneven breasts? Barbie is a bit cheesy but at least she isn’t a scank.
My daughter has been going on about getting a barbie caravan but at $150 no chance. So she has the home made barbie caravan card board that we painted pink and glittery and wall papered and carpeted and attached wheels then hitched it to my sons remote control car. Cost about 15 dollars and we are still having fun with alterations. My son has slept with it the last few nights.
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Love it!!!
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Aspirational? Yes barbie is pretty, there is nothing wrong with that, but there is something wrong with having no variety in the barbie line. This is bad when its marketed towards young girls who’ll ‘aspire’ to look like her. White, blonde, and thin. Its especially hard for girls who don’t fit this beauty standard set by Barbie.
‘With matching tv and remote control, and packet of chips? Hardly aspirational. Who wants and ugly doll with acne or stretch marks and uneven breasts? Barbie is a bit cheesy but at least she isn’t a scank.’
This is disgustingly offensive. It is a common stereotype that obese people are lazy. That stereotype is wrong because weight is determined on number of factors such as genetics and disorders. Being fat does not mean you’re lazy. Having acne, uneven breasts, or stretch marks does not mean you’re ugly. People do not choose to have physical features that are deemed ‘ugly’ be society. Society chooses to view natural features as ugly.
I am 15 years old and I want a barbie that has features that I will see on people on a daily basis. I want a barbie with variety because I do not want my younger sister to ‘aspire’ to look like something that is not her.
And I forgot to mention the blatant slut-shaming.
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I had a black pink ‘n’ pretty barbie in the 80′s. There are red head barbies, brunettes, all sorts.
I certainly would not be buying my children an obese barbie, I don’t think it’s a positive move at all
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You’re FIFTEEN ???? Gee, your comment packs a punch…
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You’re 15 and you really don’t know much about life right now, and if you think that having acne, stretch mark, uneven breasts are only made ugly by society then you clearly have none of these issue. I have all of these issues except post baby weight and while I could care less what other people think of my body it doesn’t magically make my stretch marks, saggy boobs and skin, acne, keloid scars etc attractive.
Women want to be attractive for themselves and their partners and most reasonable thinking women don’t really care what’s uber fashionable or cool. Women (meaning females who realize that fashion isn’t something to live by) are just realistic about how they look regardless of what fashion dictates and want to look better because they know that being heavier isn’t healthy and alot of other issues can be signs of health issues.
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I wished I had a Barbie as a little girl. I wanted the ‘Country Camper’ and can even still remember the jingle from the ad.
All I had a was a flat chested Skipper doll
I liked the ad. Much more stuff to worry about than a well crafted ad.
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I have no idea what would have been offensive to the reader who requested this discussion – this ad features woman of all ages and backgrounds, doing all kinds of things. Where is the ” You can’t? ” in that?
Methinks the reader must have a preconceived notion/prejudice against Barbie is only seeing what she wants to see…
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Don’t care. My girls have Barbies, I don’t think they ever relate to them as any kind of ideal for themselves, just as plastic dolls…
Surely there are better things to get your knickers in a twist over?
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I’m confused, why is the ad offensive? The ad is saying from females of different ages, ethnicity, backgrounds that they can be whatever they want to be.
Barbie is not a bad thing, if she comes with a dentist set and it one day inspires a little girl to become a dentist why is that so bad? I dont understand where the person who brought this up thinks that the implication of this ad is that you cant be short, fat etc? All I see in the add is different women and a girls that they can aspire to what they want to be.
I’ve watched Babrie DVD’s with a friends little girl and she loves them because Babrie can be femanine and isn’t weak and needs to be saved. She is bright, intelligent, resourcful. The msg behind Barbie and her DVD’s has nothing to do with physical appearance but more encouraging girls to be whatever they want to be and to work for it.
How is that msg bad? I dont understand
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Seriously? I actually saw the ad on TV the other night and thought, wow, cool, and was quite impressed when I saw it was a Barbie ad. Quite frankly, I think people underestimate the intelligence of women when they diss Barbie. I grew up surrounded by Barbies, wasn’t allowed a GI Joe or Ken doll, and I grew up to be what I consider to be a feminist.
I certainly didn’t play with my Barbies and think “oh, to be desirable and sucessful I will need to be artificially blonde, doe eyed, with huge boobs, legs to my waist and strangley arched feet”!!!!! Um help, these were just my PRETEND dolls. All girls play with dolls and create fantasy stories around them in their rooms, doesn’t mean I am going to turn into an anorexic June Cleaver!!!!!
I think the fact that Barbie / Mattel is actually providing dolls with careers as diverse as vets, doctors, swim teachers, teachers etc is a great thing. As a mum of 2 girls who like(d) their Barbies I would much rather them play with a Barbie than those horrid Bratz dolls with their sexually inappropriate Leeds, black lacy g strings and clothes normally sen in a bordello lol, or those Moxy dolls (I just think Poxy lol).
Let kids be kids and use their imaginations. After 50 odd years I think the argument that Barbie will warp girls expectations of themselves is redundant , after all, that’s what we have supermodels for LOL
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What’s the big deal about these ads? All they’re saying is girls can do what ever they like
In my experience if you want to see the cause of the problems facing young girls and their self image, look closer to home. This may sound like a gross generalisation but I don’t mean it to be as i know there are a lot of Mum’s out there doing all they can to tell their girls they are perfect just the way they are.
But just today I witnessed a woman helping her young daughter (9 or 10) straighten her absolutely gorgeous wavy hair and confirming the girls fears that she wasn’t as attractive with wavy hair as opposed to straight hair. The conversation was worrying, to say the least.
I know not every Mum is like this woman..and I know this could be perceived to be a small, isolated incident, but every girl I know who has self image doubts/problems has a Mum who has helped, albeit unwittingly, to reinforce those doubts.
I think we spend too much time and effort worrying about dolls like Barbie and ads and magazines and too little time really thinking about how some of us unwittingly re-inforce self doubt in girls
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I would love to hear from the lady who requested this to be discussed, and hear her views!
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I love Barbie and had many as a child. My eating disorders were a gift to me from my ballet teachers. Not a doll i played with i also played with Wonder Woman and Aquaman, should i be worried?? I wonder why people place so much store in a piece of plastic as a determining factor in our children’s lives. But then again i don’t own a credit card…..
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I work in schools.
During a conference last year, we were presented with the fact that by the ages of 5-8 children have already decided what they CAN’T do when they are older in regards to career! There are a number of factors which contribute to this.
If this ad and Barbie in general shows children that there are so many careers you CAN do, no matter who you are or where you live, is it really such a bad thing?
Anything that encourages children to dream BIG, is a good thing in my book!!
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I LOVE these ads! I think people are too hard on barbie dolls, and I don’t think kids get a negative body image or self esteem from them at all. I loved them as a kid, not once did it ever occur to me that because I didn’t look like her I wasn’t good enough. My kids also have played with barbies on and off, and I really think this is a non issue for them.
I think body image and self esteem are important issues to think about in our kids, but I hate the idea that people seem to think if you avoid certain toys, then everything will be hunky dory, and your child won’t end up with an eating disorder.
To me, building a positive body image and self esteem takes WORK over years, with our children. It’s the discussions we have with them, it’s the teaching of inner confidence that matters, not whether or not your child plays with a barbie doll.
That said, I don’t let my kids play with Bratz dolls, because I just find them offensive in general, not because of body image, or self esteem.
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This above comment was me, by the way. Mia, sometimes it’s difficult to log in for comments, I did click the twitter button, but often my name still goes straight to anonymous
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Oh lord I hate Bratz. Wrong on so many levels.
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Lol, Kerryn! My partner and I call them Slutz.
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I grew up with Barbies. Most of my friends did, too. And while I’ve suffered many-a self esteem issue, it was never caused by Barbie. I agree with what Girly pointed out below, it never occurred to me to look to my Barbie as some sort of physical ideal I had to aspire to, any more than young boys having action figures are being taught they need to grow up to look like the Hulk.
I’m pretty sure that kids encounter enough real people in their lives to realise that real people come in all different shapes and sizes – at least, that’s how I worked it out. I would also hope that the real people in their lives tell them this, too. I really don’t think we give kids enough credit. There are far bigger influences on kids than a Barbie and it’s those we should be worrying about.
While we’re talking about it, though, I see Barbie a bit like the modelling and magazine industry – it’s taking baby steps. Yes, ideally, it would be great to see diversity in the dolls – though that would be expensive, you’d need to buy different clothes for different dolls because they’d be different size. But still, that would be the ideal. But why do we have to sully what is otherwise a pretty feel-good campaign? What’s more important – letting kids be told they can aspire to be anything (with body out of the equation altogether) or turning every single conversation we have into one about body image, losing the original meaning altogether, so that we can fight a battle already being fought on numerous other (more worthy) fronts?
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I was never allowed to have Barbie dolls when I was a kid. By the age of three, whenever they were mentioned, I would steadfastly refer to them as a “patriachal capitalist plot”. I didn’t know what that meant until I was about 8, but my mother’s hatred of them soon rubbed off on me.
My issue with Barbie isn’t what she’s wearing, or her career, but the body type shown to young girls as “normal”. However, my issue with the doll will never be as big as my mothers (probably as I only played with them once or twice in my childhood).
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Disengenous and manipulative. Since when was Barbie a feminist?
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Interesting that you ask that question. There was a Barbie expo that travelled Australia about a year or so ago – even though I never played with Barbie, I went along out of curiosity.
It was interesting to see how Barbie evolved. She was originally created by a mother for her daughter, so that the daughter could have fun dressing Barbie in fashionable clothes, not just baby outfits on baby dolls.
Barbie of course then expanded her range, and has now had over 150 careers (pretty impressive, no?). To be honest, the content of the expo really impressed me.
I found that early on, Barbie was a fantastic way of encouraging girls to not buy into the stereotypes of what a women should be – ie. she could be an astronaut, or a vet, or a deep sea diver – her only options weren’t motherhood or menial office duties.
Unfortunately today, I’m not sure that Barbie still has quite as many career aspirations, which I think is a shame. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against princess dolls – but I LOVED the diversity of the old Barbies.
Please forgive me if this post makes no sense – rough day…
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I agree with the MM reader who hates it. For a while I couldn’t work out why I did too but I think it’s because Barbie is such an impossible physical role model – the idea that you can be anything you want, so long as you have anatomically impossible measurements is just patronising.
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Barbie never says that a girl has to be thin with impossible measurements. This arguement staggers me. She is a DOLL for crying out loud.
I played with them as a child, and it never even occured to me what her body looked like. I knew she was fake, she was plastic and didn’t speak! (Even though I secretly hoped my toys were like the ones in Toy Story and had little parties when I left the room)
I just don’t see the point in placing the blame for our body issues on a piece of plastic. Do you really think making a Barbie that is fat, or a Barbie with a disability is really going to have you celebrating her diversity?
Or would that be highly offensive? “There you go, sweetie! Play with the fat Barbie because you are fat!!”
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Couldn’t agree more. When are people going to take responsibility for their own lives, rather than constantly putting the blame on someone/ something else?!
‘victimisation’, a new 21st century disorder I think…..
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Feeling rather let down that I bothered clicking on this post to read and watch it. Does one Mamamia reader’s whinge about something not even close to controversial warrant an entire debate post?
Perhaps a show of hands around the office to check if things are worth posting about next time?
On a positive note: how great is it that the most popular barbie career choice is a currently male dominated engineering career! Go girls and break that stereotype!!
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CF zero!
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I say your contributor was a Mattel employee who needed to win a bet about how many people she could get talking about the new ads!
Success….I agree with what the others have said that I didn’t find it offensive (when normally I would find alot of Barbie stuff so)
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The women in the ad for Barbie (the first one)were pretty normal looking. I agree with Mia; Barbie is trying to “do a Dove”.
I always smile when I remember that Barbie was adapted from a sex toy for german truckers. That’s where the creator of Barbie saw the doll and got the idea. So, yeah, she was meant to be blonde, busty and pneumatic.
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The MM reader was incensed? That’s a bit strong about a Barbie ad? Stop dreaming up crap to complain about.
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ps in case anybody was wondering,
Barbie’s official full name is…. “Barbara Millicent Roberts”.
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Ruth Handler created the barbie after watching her daughter barbara playing with her own dolls but only had baby looking dolls and wanted to dress them up/role play things such as doctors etc.
So when on holidays in Europe Ruth bought the Lilli doll (picturd below) which had been on sale from 1955 in Germany. The lilli doll was based on a cartoon character and was in production until 1964 when Mattel bought the rights of the doll.
So not officially Mattel’s fault for the body image??
Barbie made her official debut on the 9th of March 1959 (her official birthday) at the American Toy Fair in New York.
In the first year of production more than 350,000 barbies were sold world wide and came as either a blond or brunette. can’t find figures on the blond version selling more but i’m guessing that us why she is alwys blond now?
If you want some humorous barbie (non) facts read on….
Fictional biography
Barbie’s full name is Barbra Millicent Roberts. In a series of novels published by Random House in the 1960s, her parents’ names are given as George and Margaret Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. In the Random House novels, Barbie attended Willows High School, while in the Generation Girl books published by Golden Books in 1999 she attended the fictional Manhattan International High School in New York City (based on the real-life Stuyvesant High School.)
She has an on-off romantic relationship with her boyfriend Ken (Ken Carson), who first appeared in 1961. A news release from Mattel in February 2004 announced that Barbie and Ken had decided to split up, but in February 2006 they were hoping to rekindle their relationship after Ken had a makeover.
Barbie was friendly with Blaine, an Australian surfer, during her split with Ken in 2004.
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Barbie was modeled on the German brand Bild’s Lilli doll
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Nup, sorry. I didn’t see anything wrong at all with that ad. Where does it say you have to be a particular size to dream?
So barbie is anatomically incorrect. Don’t we all already know that?
I would much rather my daughter plays with barbies which she loves than those hideous prostitute wanna be bratz dolls.
I grew up with Barbies, my daughter is growing up with barbies and I really hope her daughter(s) will also have barbies to play with.
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Are we supposed to campaign for a fat, brunette barbie? I don’t understand.
Leaving hair color out of it, I don’t understand when people say Barbie is sending out a negative body image message. I’ll be bashed for saying this, but is it so bad that Barbie is skinny? I understand that everyone comes in all shapes and sizes, but when will people understand that there are limits.
We have a huge obesity problem with children these days, and most of it comes down to parents letting there kids eat shit. I’m not a parent, but I see the difference between kids (that I babysit) who eat healthily and those who don’t. There is ‘literally’ a HUGE difference.
Uh I know I’ve gone on an almost entirely different tangent but hey… I’m just sick of people thinking its okay to be fat. There I said it.
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Agreed!!
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I am TOTALLY with you! I hate the message that we should all just be fat and happy. It is dreadful!
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I agree to a point. When your little you dont care if you doll is fat skinny or otherwise. Barbie actually “put on weight and had a breast reduction” when she “divorced” Ken in early 2000′s. My old Barbie clothes are too small for the Barbies they make today as I gave them to my friends little one.
I think people should stop putting their entire self worth down to a doll they played with.
And to point out you wouldn’t fit Brats clothing on Barbies right leg yet no one brings that up. Next thing you know people will complain that Barbie hasn’t aged in 50 years, no wrinkles or grey hair in sight.
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What is the problem? I actually thought the first ad was great. You are looking too far into it. Sorry.
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You wouldn’t link female empowerment to this doll? But people go up in arms about those bratz dolls being all “provocative” and not being very good images for children. This could be “empowering” to a child, to someday think that they can be an astronaut, etc, etc. At least the thought can be put in their heads even during imaginary play. I think if you look past Barbies appearance and just look at Barbie like a woman who can be whatever she wants to be, it isn’t so bad.
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I found this more diverse than the Womans Weekly ad! Go Barbie
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Exactly. I think it’s great.
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Absolutely! Loved it – makes me want to go out and buy one.
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I cant really see a problem with the ad. Infact it probably does send a positive message to young girls pout there if you really think about it…Having said that as a mum of a 4yo daughter I dont llove the actual barbie image of a perfectly moulded doll with big boobs and a little waist. Its not ‘real’. I dont really buy barbies for her for that reason however I still think the add is fine.
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Before we get incensed about this, watch an episode of “The Only Way is Essex” on foxtel for a new definition of vapid. Real life Barbie dolls are alive and well and boring as hell.
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OMG! I had never heard of the show, I managed about 6 mins on YouTube before I had to turn it off! What a shocker!
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LOl sorry to inflict it on your psyche, but now you know
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I can’t believe I took the time to watch those ads. Where is the issue?
Maybe the reader ate a bit too much pudding over Christmas and is looking to lay the blame elsewhere?
But really, all jokes aside……wait, this IS a joke. Right?
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I couldn’t help but laugh at the line about Dentist Barbie “teaching Kelly to brush her teeth and gargle, so they can be pretty”…. says it all really.
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For godssake…yes,the ad makes no sense whatsoever,and i’ve never been a fan of Barbies myself,but why drag the whole ‘body issue’ in it…AGAIN?It’s a doll,people,who cares if her body is proportional or not?She isn’t supposed to represent anything real,and i for one would find it rather disturbing if they started making dolls with a body shaped like the average Soccermum next door…I have no idea how anyone in their right mind could think a Barbie is responsible for a girls distorted Body Image later in life…
I have a 6 year old daughter(who isn’t in the least interested in dolls,despite being given several over the years by various people),and when i see and hear how some girls her age act already,all ashamed and embarassed to even get changed in front of others at the pool for example,i cringe,and i wonder where they see and learn that sort of behaviour…not from a (oddly shaped) piece of plastic,i dare say…
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LOL. I just thought the ad was funny. I can see nothing offensive in it and as a mother of two young girls, doesn’t bother me at all.
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I’d like to think I can raise my daughter to have a healthy body image, and still allow her to play with Barbies. I think we need to give ourselves and our kids more credit. Even at 7 my daughter totally gets Barbie’s unrealistic body image and she knows that real women don’t look like that. Doesn’t stop her from having fun doing their hair and dressing them. To her they are just a toy, not a role model. I don’t see how these ads can be offensive.
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if you could be anything, why would it be fat? go Barbie!!!
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Well you could have a giant head (a la brats) and have a passion for fashion. They’re more offensive in my view.
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Hey man… Are you saying that it’s wrong to have a giant head!?
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Barbie has been everything they show in that ad. I don’t mind it.
Is there a reason only Dove, every feminine hygiene product on the market and Australian Womans Weekly can tell us that we can be anything we want to be?
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Wow…I got a ‘Potty training Kelly’ for my 7th birthday and back then it was a big deal that you could feed her water and she peed it back out! Come a long way Mattel!
I like the first ad too. I think we should celebrate the fact that it shows the elderly, the african american, the european. Instead of reading too much into it and complaining about what it doesnt say but ‘implies’. Please.
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Barbie has been everything in that ad.
I don’t mind it. Is there some reason Dove, every feminine hygiene product on the market and Australian Womans Weekly should have the monopoly on telling us that we can be anything we want to be?
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i don’t like barbies, never have never will. i didn’t want my daughter to have any but people have bought them for her against my wishes (hello M-I-L).
i find them offensive, especially as whenever i find them on the floor they are naked and in some sort of pornographic position. i know that is my interpretation but i think they are pretty disgusting. there are plenty of real life role models to look up to (when are you posting that justine clarke interview mia??) without needing a doll as some sort of inappropriate role model.
role models really come from within close circles anyway, i want my daughter to look up to those family members that are kind and generous, work hard, travel, have PhD’s etc. not someone that looks good.
oh and find me a dentist that wears a skirt that short and i’ll eat a barbie
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So true that they always end up in porno positions. But, casting my mind back, it was usually my friends and I who put them in those positions. Their hard plastic bodies were so uncooperative though!
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LOL porno barbie!
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Actually, the female dentists at my dentist surgery do dress like that. And they are all glamorous AND they all wear high heels – the horror!
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they wear skirts that short to work?
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We always tried to make barbie have sex with Ken, it normally meant them lying on top of each other naked, but sometimes from memory they did scissors with their legs. Ah memories…
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My 5yo has a couple of Barbies (not chosen by me, all gifts), including one that was a hand-me-down from the 70s from one of my girlfriends.
Interestingly enough, they used to be even more exaggerated – tiny waists and even bigger boobs! Some of the modern clothes don’t even fit Ms 70s Superboobs Barbie!
I’m not a huge fan or Barbies but don’t ban them either. We just encourage lots of other more diverse toys as well. My daughter loves them though.
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oh god, couldn’t stop laughing at Ms 70s Superboobs Barbie
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Is the MM reader who complained that “It’s all about how girls can be whatever they want to be. Except, short, fat etc….(not stated but implied)” a complete idiot? I’m sorry, but where was that implied? It was about little girls being able to be anything they want to be- pilots, artists, dancers, teachers.
I don’t understand the readers upset with this ad. They’re obviously imagining the whole implication, as I (and a lot of other people, it would seem) don’t see it at all. I just see an ad encouraging girls to be whatever they want to be. What’s so wrong with that?
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It is implied by the fact that all of the women in the ad are attractive grown up versions of Barbie.
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even the pilot? they were beautiful women yes, but hardly grown up barbies.
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Whoa there Nic, every Mamamia reader is entitled to have a different opinion.
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Obviously. Everyone can have a different opinion, and I was simply stating my own.
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Nah actually you called one of the guests at this dinner party a ‘complete idiot’.
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P.S I love Barbie
and i think she’s perfect because she’s a doll. I think even as a kid, you know that much. She’s not real.
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Nope I can’t find anything offensive about this ad. I think a lot of people look for reasons to be offended and I struggle to understand it?
If you don’t like Barbie that’s your choice but she can’t be blamed for everyones poor self image I am afraid. At some point it is about growing up and either accepting your physical self or doing something about it if you can.
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this is a topic of discussion/debate that comes up often – the issue of whether female bodies are portrayed in the media (or in kids toys such as Barbies) as being such perfect, thin, proportioned things! And more so, if this has a negative affect on today’s young women, who feel pressure to be “perfect” and hence contributing to eating disorders and other mental illnesses.
I’m undecided about how much this can affect us. I believe that people are not as all-consuming and passive as alot of researchers will have as believe. Most of the time, we can make up our own minds about such things.
However, I do believe that repeated and idealised versions of the female body (particulary stick-thin supermodels) can send a message that if you don’t look this way, then you are not perfect. You need to change.
It’s how we deal with this message that’s important though. I’m pretty sure girls who love to play with barbies don’t really compare their bodies to their doll’s (I certainly didn’t think about it).
Kids should just be kids…parents should let them play and kids should not even think about being “fat”
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