ABSTRACT

Barbie dolls have been a symbol of beauty and inspiration for all young girls. These dolls have come across with many new shapes and styles to fascinate the feminine behavior. Part of the controversy surrounding Barbie is the heavy feminist critique leveled at the doll: her pink Corvette, idyllic lifestyle, self-centered vanity, and extensive wardrobe changes portray a negative stereotype of feminine behavior. This negative behavior causes great difficulty for parents of young girls. The paper aims to research in detail the controversy behind this issue.

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Between Fiction and Reality1

Body Image3

The Idealized Image4

Results of Poor Body Image5

Eating Disorder5

Conclusion7

Worshiping Disney Princesses is Harmful for Younger Girls

Introduction The famous Barbie doll has had many critics. For nearly 50 years, is accused of making anorexic girls, to distort their body image and reality. A recent study has further driven the point, showing that this toy would encourage girls to be thin from 6 years. These dolls are experiencing a global success. Today, at least two dolls are sold per second in the world and where some see an innocent toy, child psychiatrists see it as an object instead the critical influence (Atkins & Dawn, Pp.96).

Between Fiction and Reality

Scientists complain that Barbie's measurement is not only unattainable but also dangerous for health: the waist compared to its height, is 39% lower than that of an anorexic. Someone with Barbie syndrome strives to acquire the same measurements as Barbie as the probability of having her body shape is 1 in 100,000. For 50 years, Barbie has been accused by child psychiatrists to make girls anorexic by distorting their body image. Indeed, the children seek their toys in some of their own identity which allows them to develop their own image in the future. With a Barbie doll, the function of parent disappears, the child who plays is not supposed to play the mother, and in the large "family" around Barbie's parents are totally absent (Bordo, Pp.36-39).

U.S. researchers have discovered in 1995 "Barbie syndrome", it is the desire to have a physical appearance and lifestyle of the doll. This syndrome affects mostly teenagers. According to surveys, 7 out of 10 women suffer seeing a Top model. The number of anorexia and bulimia has also risen sharply because of the importance of increasing importance of fashion and beauty in recent years. One in 10 women between 15 and 50 years suffer from eating disorders, female students are more affected than other women. The worst is that 5-10% of anorexics die from the disease today. Scientists are concerned about the recent arrival of the dolls "Bratz" and even video game characters like Lara Croft and the character development and action figures for boys in a few years have seen more muscular, with forms increasingly closer to the caricature of the man attractive (Grogan &Sarah, Pp.101-112).

Barbie syndrome occurs across the feeling that since small is transmitted to the subconscious of girls by the desire to be squalid, blonde and always feminine. The so-called "Barbie syndrome", specifies the characteristics ...