Barbie Thesis

Barbie you’re beautiful. You make me feel, my Barbie doll is really real. Barbie is small and so petite. Her clothes and figure look so neat.… Someday I’m gonna be exactly like you, till then I know just what I’ll do. Barbie. Beautiful Barbie. I’ll make believe that I, am you. (Barbie Collector, 2007)
That, was Mattel’s first ever jingle for the iconic Barbie doll that would soon sweep over a nation winning the hearts of young girls across America. It aired in 1959, 43 years ago and today she has grown beyond, her manufacturer, Mattel’s, wildest expectations (Barbie Collector, 2007). To date, over 1 billion dolls have been sold and the average American girl between 3 and 11 owns about 10 Barbie dolls (Bell, 2004, p. 53). A supermodel,
She allows young girls the opportunity to dream without any limits. Having accomplished virtually every career possible, Barbie definitely deserves credit for changing some of the perceptions about women’s role in society. She is often described as a strong feminist figure promoting the liberation of women from just being a subservient counterpart to males but instead equal members of society capable of thriving in any traditionally predominantly male role such as astronauts or athletes (The Economist, 2002). However dressing Barbie in a business suit and calling her president does not always translate directly into society, not even in the United States which is yet to see a female President. In countries in the middle-east where most girls do not receive an education this can still be a message of hope. One example of how Western mass media ideas on women can have a positive influence is Malala Yousfazi. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, writes in her book about how she was inspired to continue her fight for education for women by the smart and powerful female characters she saw depicted on the hit American series, Ugly Betty (Yousfazi, 2013). Jean Killbourne (2000), a researcher who studies the impact of advertising on culture, argues that women are especially influenced by ideas in the media (44). She adds that female psychology is deeply rooted in relation to other people (Killbourne, 2000,
Evolutionary psychologists suggest that men are attracted to women who have physical features that are indicators of fertility (Sefcek, Brumbach, Vasquez & Miller, 2007, p. 20). Sefcek et al. go on to discuss these indicators in their research. It shows that men prefer a waist to hip ratio (WHR) of 0.7, regardless of the overall size of the female, because this indicates larger hip bones which make it easier to give birth (Sefcek et al., 2007, p. 20). Barbie’s WHR is 0.59 (Singh, 1995). Lighter skin is also preferred by men because it indicates high levels of estrogen (Sefcek et al., 2007, p. 20). High levels of estrogen are also indicated by symmetry in female facial structure and breasts (Sefcek et al., 2007, p. 20). Universal male preferences for female partners also include big eyes, petite jaws and small noses, all features present in Barbie (Sefcek et al., 2007, p. 20). However, despite the similarities between Barbie and male mate selection preferences Barbie was created by a woman, Ruth Handler, to be an aspirational model for girls and not by males as this theory would suggest (Barbie Collector, 2007). Also, even though beauty standards around the world may have similar trends linked to fertility, they are far from universal. There is no better