Why Do You Think Barbie Should Be Abolished Persuasive Essay
Argumentative Rough Draft Essay
Bye-Bye Fantastic Plastic
Dreaming about having a long, blond hair, big, blue eyes, a Coca-Cola shaped figure, and a closet full of fancy dresses is truly a big part of little girls’ fantasy. Definitely, Barbie dolls possess all those traits. Whether it is Christmas or birthdays, every growing lass wishes to have a Barbie because owning it and its cute little dresses is like a crowing glory to her. Without a doubt, Barbie plays a huge role on girls’ childhood. However, Barbie should be abolished globally because this perfect, fantastic, plastic doll shows an unrealistic body image, gives higher expectation on girls, and contributes to lower one’s self-esteem.
First, Barbie dolls have an unrealistic physical appearance that creates psychological damages to everyone, especially on girls. All of the dolls sold in the market do not have cellulites, hanging flabby arms, or bulging belly, but Barbie have the most remarkable and unimaginable body proportion of them all. Anschutz stated that girls specifically in Western part of the world who owns an …show more content…
incredibly, slender, fashion dolls like Barbie tends to have problems in their eating behavior. Furthermore, Anschutz added that those girls who played with the thin dolls have a less food intake compared to those who played the average sized doll. (Anschutz, 2010) Their study really showed that Barbie’s image can possibly affect the child’s psychological development. No wonder cases of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia sky rocketed these days in our generation.
Second, due to Barbie’s flawless image, women have a higher expectation on what they should look like. Certainly, Barbie dolls became a role model not only for children but also many adults too crave to be like her. The only solution one can do to have a goddess-like appearance is to spend tons and tons of money and go under the knife to achieve it. An ordinary 49-year-old British woman named Sarah Burge spent almost $800,000 for her plastic surgery procedures including eyelifts, nose jobs, cheek implant, lip enhancement, chin reductions, facelifts, liposuction, and many more just to become a Barbie look-a-like. (Armstrong, 2008) Absolutely, Barbie changed the society’s outlook on aesthetics and raises it to an unreachable level. It is sad to say that a worthless, lifeless, plastic doll dictates what woman should look like.
Last, surprisingly, exposure to Barbie and her perfect plastic world can lower little girls’ self-esteem.
Based on Dittmar’s experiment on girls ranging from ages 5 to 8 years old, those little girls showed a great dissatisfaction on their bodies and desired to have a thinner figure like the Barbie doll image they presented on that particular study. (Dittmar, 2006) Therefore, that distorted image of beauty will linger to their young minds thinking that they are not enough for the society to accept them whole heartedly. Due to that unsatisfied feeling, undeniably, those growing misses would not have a confidence to face the world waiting for them. Unfortunately, most of Barbie’s consumers are not aware to the damaging effects it can cause in the future. Several consequences are expected such as depression and unhealthy eating habits can occur and go hand-in-hand with the lowered
self-esteem.
To make things clear, Barbie is not like a voodoo doll that everyone can curse and hate. Unquestionably, Barbie and her little world created a huge mark on everybody’s heart somehow in our nurturing days. On the other hand, the effects of Barbie dolls and her fancy, dreamlike world is unknowingly a great horror causing a psychological damage, an unrealistic idea of true beauty, and a threatening lowering of self-confidence of girls, especially to poor, budding, young children. Now, it is the time to give up the twisted ideas of aesthetics we once have and say goodbye to the perfect, fantastic plastic we once loved.
Work Cited
Anschutz, Doeschka J., et al. "The Effects of Playing with Thin Dolls on Body Image and Food Intake in Young Girls." Sex Roles 63.9-10 (2010): 621-30. ProQuest. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.
Armstrong, Lisa. "Real Living Dolls." The Times: 7. Nov 18 2008. ProQuest. Web. 27 Apr. 2013 .
Dittmar, Helga, Emma Halliwell, and Susanne Ive. "Does Barbie Make Girls Want to be thin?" Developmental Psychology.42.2 (2006):283-292. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.
Bye-Bye Fantastic Plastic
Dreaming about having a long, blond hair, big, blue eyes, a Coca-Cola shaped figure, and a closet full of fancy dresses is truly a big part of little girls’ fantasy. Definitely, Barbie dolls possess all those traits. Whether it is Christmas or birthdays, every growing lass wishes to have a Barbie because owning it and its cute little dresses is like a crowing glory to her. Without a doubt, Barbie plays a huge role on girls’ childhood. However, Barbie should be abolished globally because this perfect, fantastic, plastic doll shows an unrealistic body image, gives higher expectation on girls, and contributes to lower one’s self-esteem.
First, Barbie dolls have an unrealistic physical appearance that creates psychological damages to everyone, especially on girls. All of the dolls sold in the market do not have cellulites, hanging flabby arms, or bulging belly, but Barbie have the most remarkable and unimaginable body proportion of them all. Anschutz stated that girls specifically in Western part of the world who owns an …show more content…
incredibly, slender, fashion dolls like Barbie tends to have problems in their eating behavior. Furthermore, Anschutz added that those girls who played with the thin dolls have a less food intake compared to those who played the average sized doll. (Anschutz, 2010) Their study really showed that Barbie’s image can possibly affect the child’s psychological development. No wonder cases of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia sky rocketed these days in our generation.
Second, due to Barbie’s flawless image, women have a higher expectation on what they should look like. Certainly, Barbie dolls became a role model not only for children but also many adults too crave to be like her. The only solution one can do to have a goddess-like appearance is to spend tons and tons of money and go under the knife to achieve it. An ordinary 49-year-old British woman named Sarah Burge spent almost $800,000 for her plastic surgery procedures including eyelifts, nose jobs, cheek implant, lip enhancement, chin reductions, facelifts, liposuction, and many more just to become a Barbie look-a-like. (Armstrong, 2008) Absolutely, Barbie changed the society’s outlook on aesthetics and raises it to an unreachable level. It is sad to say that a worthless, lifeless, plastic doll dictates what woman should look like.
Last, surprisingly, exposure to Barbie and her perfect plastic world can lower little girls’ self-esteem.
Based on Dittmar’s experiment on girls ranging from ages 5 to 8 years old, those little girls showed a great dissatisfaction on their bodies and desired to have a thinner figure like the Barbie doll image they presented on that particular study. (Dittmar, 2006) Therefore, that distorted image of beauty will linger to their young minds thinking that they are not enough for the society to accept them whole heartedly. Due to that unsatisfied feeling, undeniably, those growing misses would not have a confidence to face the world waiting for them. Unfortunately, most of Barbie’s consumers are not aware to the damaging effects it can cause in the future. Several consequences are expected such as depression and unhealthy eating habits can occur and go hand-in-hand with the lowered
self-esteem.
To make things clear, Barbie is not like a voodoo doll that everyone can curse and hate. Unquestionably, Barbie and her little world created a huge mark on everybody’s heart somehow in our nurturing days. On the other hand, the effects of Barbie dolls and her fancy, dreamlike world is unknowingly a great horror causing a psychological damage, an unrealistic idea of true beauty, and a threatening lowering of self-confidence of girls, especially to poor, budding, young children. Now, it is the time to give up the twisted ideas of aesthetics we once have and say goodbye to the perfect, fantastic plastic we once loved.
Work Cited
Anschutz, Doeschka J., et al. "The Effects of Playing with Thin Dolls on Body Image and Food Intake in Young Girls." Sex Roles 63.9-10 (2010): 621-30. ProQuest. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.
Armstrong, Lisa. "Real Living Dolls." The Times: 7. Nov 18 2008. ProQuest. Web. 27 Apr. 2013 .
Dittmar, Helga, Emma Halliwell, and Susanne Ive. "Does Barbie Make Girls Want to be thin?" Developmental Psychology.42.2 (2006):283-292. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.