When I was a little girl, I loved playing with Barbies. I had about four or five Barbies that I played with everyday. Whenever we went to the toy store, I would head to the Barbie section to look for new clothes for my Barbies. No, I wasn't a Barbie fanatic, but I sure did like to dress up the dolls!
Not once did I think that Barbie's body was the "ideal" size and that I should aspire to look like her. I guess to some degree perhaps I subconsciously thought that Barbie had the "perfect" body. However, I didn't become obsessed with wanting to be skinny or to have this curvy, busty body. Perhaps I'm the exception.
Many people think that Barbie is a reflection of an unrealistic body size and part of me agrees with that school of thought. I do believe that Mattel should come out with a version of Barbie that looks like a "real" woman. But what is "real" anyway? Does "real" mean a size 8, 9, 10, 20, or 22?
I don't blame Barbie entirely though. Look at other dolls, fashion magazines, and runway shows...
It's not healthy to hate Barbie because now you've embedded into your mind that skinny girls are to be hated. We should all be loving and accepting of each other no matter what size we are. We will always be surrounded by women who look like Barbie and hating them only creates negative energy.
It's up to parents and teachers to instill in little girls and young women the idea that they are perfect the way they are. Teach girls to focus on what they want: to just be healthy.
