A psychological study, “Does Barbie make girls want to be thin” looked at girls 5 to 8 years of age where they were shown images of either Barbie dolls, Emme dolls (U.S. size 16), or no dolls. After the girls saw the images’ they then completed body image assessments. The study concluded that girls exposed to Barbie dolls reported lower body image and a higher desire for a thinner body frame than the girls in the other exposure groups. The study also found that early exposure to dolls with unrealistic thin body shapes could damage girls’ body image, and increase their risk for an eating disorder or weight cycling.
When I worked at Rehabs.com, the team created an infographic called, “Is A Barbie Body Possible?” They had a realistic photo rendering done based on a Barbie dolls measurements. They discovered that it is impossible to have her physical proportions. For example; with Barbie’s waist being smaller than her head, she only has room for half a liver and only a few inches of intestine. The Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders calculated a healthy woman’s body and how much it would have to change in order for her to have the measurements of a Barbie doll. They found that, “women would have to grow two feet taller, extend their neck length by 3.2 inches, gain 5 inches in chest size, and lose 6 inches in waist circumference.” This is an impossible dimension to achieve, and although media shows that this is a body to emulate, I believe that the ideal female body image is changing.
Thanks to movements like #bodypositive, Dove #realbeauty, #nofilter, and #healthyisthenewskinny we are now seeing bodies of all different sizes in ad campaigns. The emphasis is less about striving for the perfect body and more about loving our body just the way it is. We are also seeing Mattel change as well. Three years ago they offered three new body types to Barbie, and one was “curvy.” Let’s hope that she loves her new body, and encourages women young and old to do the same.