BARBIE - HER INFLUENCE ON WOMEN

She is the epitome of beauty, perfection, and success and plays one of the key roles in the developing age of a girl. She is the first icon that a girl familiarise her self with and Barbie has, and continues to make a cosmic impact on a woman’s life. The Barbie doll is one of the most successful toys of the 20th century and, arguably, the icon of female beauty and the American dream. According to its manufacturer, Mattel.Inc, every three seconds a Barbie doll is being purchased. Not many people would want to admit how influenced they are by this iconic doll but I still remember my first Barbie, and the blissful contentment I had by receiving her in the tender age of five years.  The toy doll has since made a significant impression in my life and career as a designer, and she’s is one of the key ‘people’ I give credit to, for the success I have achieved through my profession.

The reason I consider Barbie as a person is because she’s not just a plastic doll to play with, she’s a dream, a vision, a star, and a remarkable character, a lifestyle, that motivates a little girl to achieve her goals and to be a success as a ‘woman’.

But after seeing Barbie being blamed for so many things I decided to write an article about the doll that had made a significant impression for the past 50 years and still continues to do so, and why people shouldn't blame "her" for the self-image problems of girls and women.

The controversy against Barbie

It is evident that during recent times the media, educators, parents and feminists have blamed the doll for various reasons. If every time anyone writes or speaks about the issues of young women’s unhealthy obsession to achieve the perfect body, it doesn’t take long for the name ‘Barbie’ to be mentioned.

Some claim that the toy represents the paradigm of adult female beauty to which young girls learn to aspire. It has been argued that Barbie dolls reflect a highly sexualized image and restrict girls' play by emphasizing prescribed roles. The media say that some people fear that by dramatizing stereotypical feminine roles during play, girls will internalize and later embody such roles. There continues to be disagreement over the messages the Barbie doll sends and the toy's place in the lives of young girls. Despite all these controversy and the demand to change the image of the doll, Mattel.Inc have been largely – I’d say completely – unresponsive to those concerns and the toy remains to be the best selling toy in the world.

The positive influence of Barbie

Barbie is a powerful, intelligent, skilled and someone who will always be linked to the color pink. She represents’ women of all colors, nationalities, occupations and in her own way, also represents a little girl.

Independence & Creativity

Since the introduction of Barbie in 1959, she was an adult and had a career, which represented her independence and power during a time when little girls in the world were playing with baby dolls and taking care of them like mothers. ‘Independence’ was the first and the key impact the doll made in a girls mind and I believe this greatly develops intellect to regulate a goal-driven attitude in a child. When looking at how people played with the Barbie and their stories, I really appreciate the wonderful creativity that builds in a child’s mind. The genius of Barbie is that the doll can be anyone in the mind of a young girl and assist her to project possibilities and to mirror or to extend their own lives.

Barbie is a single woman - she's not necessarily married or with children - and I think it's a good thing that young girls play withBarbies and have narratives where women have the freedom to be themselves, hang out with girlfriends, have careers, go backpacking and climb Mount Everest or simply be a super housewife and have kids. Barbie allows the imagination to take wings. It is also essential to keep in mind the fact that young girls have the ability to distinguish between fantasy and the real world.

The Beauty

No matter what negative remarks the doll receives, Barbie is beautiful inside and out. She is not an action hero who beats up or shoots up anyone who opposes her - She’s got wholesomeness - She’s a hard worker and is liked by all her friends. She hurts nobody and yet she is like so many women who live in abusive environments where they are blamed for things that aren't their fault, treated with suspicion, resented, used as punching bags when someone has had a bad day, and brutalized. This pretty little doll, with her miniature accessories and the ability to capture the imaginations of little girls (and not so little girls) everywhere isn't really guilty of anything other than being perfect and perfectly feminine.

Barbie will always represent perfection, which something a human being cannot achieve, yet she stands as a benchmark in a girls life to accomplish her dream of becoming the best, to be beautiful, to be classy, and to be loved by all.