Barbie and Her Influence

After researching the affect Barbie has on young girls really scares me. According to Mattel, the producers of Barbie, they have estimated that 99% of girls aged 3 to 10 years old own at least one Barbie doll. We can assume that girls are attracted to Barbies looks and the personality the commercials make her out to be. Who would ever think how much influence an inanimate object could possibly have!?

It is estimated that the diet industry is worth between 40 to 100 billion dollars a year selling weight loss products in a just a single year. The media focuses so much on sex appeal and body image, from selling products like beer to cars, women with "ideal" bodies are always used to sell merchandise.

At a very young age girls are introduced that Barbie is how a woman is supposed to look like. We all know how children always mock what they see and well i think Barbie is a perfect example. As girls get older the feel the pressure from the media, boys, and even their friends that you should have that "ideal" body. I really think it's depressing that girls have to constantly live up to a certain standard in order to be accepted by their peers yet alone society.

But did you know Barbie has an unattainable body?! Researches who generated a woman with Barbie-doll proportions, found that her back would be too weak to support the weight of her upper body, and that her body would be too narrow to contain more than half a liver. If a real woman was built this way she would suffer from chronic diarrhea and ultimately die from malnutrition. With these facts in mind, women continue to achieve a similarly underweight figure, compromising their health. According to the South Carolina Department of Health seven million women each year suffer from an eating disorder.

Something, anything needs to be done to change the way society thinks. With toy figures, diet supplements, magazines, movie, and merchandise all relying on an "ideal" figure, I don't think the standard will change one bit.