Sunday, October 17, 2010

I'm A Barbie Girl



What if all women had the same body as a Barbie? Studies show that the body type that Barbie has is physically impossible to achieve and function with. At the same time, women feel pressure to look this way because that is what the media convinces them is the norm. Since men and women are more likely to look at these over sexualized kinds of ads—men because they are attracted to this, women because they strive for the skinny look—they are used without exception by companies such as Barbie.

We kept thinking back to the days when we used to play with Barbies. Were the Barbies as over sexualized as they are now? No, they were not. While we were in “Toys ‘R’ Us,” we stumbled upon a section with collector Barbies, showing us Barbies from many years ago. Gradually, the Barbies became more sophisticated and over sexualized. These toys that are targeted for little kids are portraying more mature and older women in their twenties. As a result, young girls are exposed to ideas of what they should look like before they should be worrying about superficial pressures in society.

As we continued past “Toys ‘R’ Us” to explore more of Times Square, we noticed that almost all fashion ads for women were promiscuous. Advertising companies are under the impression that this is the only way to grab the attention of men and women. At the same time, men are over sexualized as well. Most ads include men without their shirts on or staring seductively at a woman, who bears lots of skin and wears the same expression as her male counterpart.

To make a long story short, advertising towards adults and even children has gradually become more sexual than it has ever been. These advertisements are sexist towards men and women, inspiring the wrong ideas in the minds of children of the next generation.

-Deema, Mary R., Lucy, Hunter

5 comments:

  1. In the end don't we all want to look have these features being a better looking person. Look at the celebs they always have to look attractive or else it likes, "Input celeb here was caught only wearing a shirt and jeans, OMG!" Im just sayin'

    -Jack

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  2. Because I don't see barbies very much now, I never noticed the changes that have occurred in their appearance. Do you think that this shows how our society as a whole has changed? This also makes me think about how children will grow up having these over sexualized barbies and how that will change our future generation.

    -Adela

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  3. Does the idea that Barbie is an over-sexed toy cause children to live a life where sex is more prevalent? Or is it simply that children bound to lead provocative lives are drawn to Barbies? For that matter is it even possible for a child to be bound to lead a provocative life or does that determination come directly from outside influence?

    -Phelix

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  4. You mention that the over sexualized barbies expose young girls to ideas that they shouldn't have to be exposed to until much later on in life. I noticed a lot of toys promote the idea of being like an adult, especially the toys geared towards young girls, such as cleaning sets that are advertised as "realistic look" and "just like home." Even the idea that four year old girls play with baby dolls is a bit disturbing when you think about it. Why is there so much pressure for young girls to act grown up?

    -Sophia M

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  5. I agree with Sophia, I see so many toys today that are focused around young girls and boys pretending to me older that they are. That includes them cleaning with fake moms or building a fake house with their fake tools. It is creepy! I can see how children would like the play with stuffed animals since they are cuddly and may portray their favorite animal, but a human doll? That's way out of their age limit. Barbie has been becoming more scandalous over time, but I think it's like that because the dolls appeal to older ages as collectors items. In general, while Barbies may be fun, it's always freaked me out that children find it amusing to play with miniature replicas of the ideal woman and man.

    -Marin

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