Get Real Barbie Essay

Almost every single girl can say they remember at a young age seeing this one and only; blonde haired, beautiful girl. She is one of the hottest selling toys in the world. Both adults and children collect her in record numbers, she has had more then 80 careers since her invention. Including; veterinarian, rock star, and even a presidential candidate. Her name is barbie. The barbie doll was created in 1959 by Ruth Handler, whose own daughter was named barbara. Barbara loved dressing up dolls and giving them new clothing designs, So the idea hit Ruth. Why not make a teenage doll that little girls could play and dream about their future with? Not long after that, Barbie was introduced to the world at the american toy fair in new york city.
Barbie quickly caught the attention of little girls across the country at all ages. She soon became a worldwide sensation and remains as popular as ever today. Over fifty years after her debut, Barbie is no longer just a doll who lives in the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin with her boyfriend Ken Carson. She has become an idol for girls, and even women, everywhere. There are 2 barbie dolls sold every minutes around the world. She is sold in over 150 nations and has had over eighty careers including teen model, lifeguard, doctor, astronaut, and even ran for president three times (1992, 2000 and 2004). She has starred in movies, online games and video games. She is on backpacks and lunchboxes, has a website, and even has her own magazine, The Barbie Magazine. Originally Barbie’s purpose was to inspire young girls to follow their imaginations and to become what they want in adulthood but the impact she has had on girls and women is not that positive. Because Barbie’s physical appearance is not obtainable to the average person, she sometimes leads girls to unhealthy lifestyles when they try to be just like her. Young girls are trapped inside the Barbie Empire, forced to want to be like her physically, mentally and sexually, without society giving them a way out. Showing young girls how successful Barbie is and by making her the ideal woman is setting girls up with unrealistic ideas of how they feel they should be.
People started noticing this and that was when the “Get real Barbie” campaign was created by south shores eating disorder awareness.
Barbie is everyones idea of “perfect” Although, what most young girls dont know is that the idea of barbie isnt perfect at all. According to the “Get real barbie campaign” If barbie were an actual woman: she would be 5’9, have a 39 inch bust, an 18 inch waist, 33 inch hips, and a size three of a shoe. Barbie would only weigh around 110 pounds and at 5’9 weighing only 110 lbs, she would have a BMI of 16.24 and be considered anorexic. Due to barbies proportions, if she was real she would have to walk on all fours. All of these facts allow you to see the view and impact it can have on young girls throughout their entire life. These thoughts start getting thrown into their head to be like this beautiful perfect doll at the average young age of three. As if it isnt enough, the 1965 the slumber party barbie was introduced. She came with a bathroom scale permanently set on 110 pounds and came along with a book entitled “How to lose weight” and inside simply stated “Dont Eat” Not long after that, people started seeing barbie in a new perspective. Viewing barbie as not always the most positive influencing toy for their children or themselves to
have. Thanks to Ruth and her invention of The Barbie Doll, Barbie will always impact society with the way people view their future, looks, and lifestyle wheather it is positive or negative. She is a inspiring doll with many different qualities that will forever change the lives of young girls. Anyone could state any opinion they have towards barbie and the way they view her, but it can never change the amount of times her different careers, outfits, and dolls get stocked into shelves, thrown into carts, and bought out by parents as gifts for their daughters.