This is he-man

although still eye roll at people that think barbie is some sort of important feminist issue

Not sure it is really, more of a symptom of how little things have really changed. How little is expected or how much depending on your viewpoint of girls now.

Surely Barbie is a symbol of an important feminist issue? The culture surrounding our young girls and the expectations placed on them.

I don't know about Barbie being an astronaut or president either. All the ones I see in the shops are vapid party girls.

although still eye roll at people that think barbie is some sort of important feminist issue

buffy, i love your water aid analogy and am gonna steal that one.

Because c'mon. Barbie's body is total male gaze fodder.

No, I distinctly remember undressing a Barbie and being very disappointed. That was back when I was about 7... or perhaps 17... its so long ago I forget which.

lol I thought I'd lighten it up with a joke. People linking barbie to real life is so strange.
I'm above average height by the way

OMG! The level this thread is pitched at now, is girls give you germs.... bless you King, you funny little man.

Rosa, do you not think her body image is fantasy? I think it would be hard to work both as an astronaut and a president. I think most voters would be annoyed that barbie would spend too much time out of office.

So a "ripping good fantasy" for a boy equals superpowers - something which is actually fantastical and beyond reality. Whereas a "ripping good fantasy" for a woman is the amazing idea that she might become a president or an astronaut - oh and maybe go to a party too.

I'm sure there's irony in there somewhere but, at the moment, I am having difficulty separating it from the notion of "sick joke." No doubt someone will be along in a minute to mansplain the difference for me.

Not really, Dad, in all of those the change is in the context of "real life" not an outside, supernatural agent.

It has nothing to do with supernatural agency Vs real life. Performance is a thing that can be abstracted out of the body. It can stay in the body, prompting steroid use (he-man got THAT body from hard work in a gym?) or it can move to fit inanimate objects like cars (drive too fast), gadgets (batman/'boys and their toys'), sports, or whatever.

The point is it does not need to be as grounded to the real world in the way female body image must be, because its an out of body experience. That is exactly why adolescent boys die, reality catches up to the way they use their bodies. A super hero is not utterly disbelieved just because its 'magic', its the ideals that are absorbed and expressed, in real and destructive ways.

Should boys buy into Clark Kent instead of Superman or G.I Joe? I would say they would be healthier if they did... but they don't, that's the point, not the unreality of what they buy into. If boys buy into unhealthy masculine stereotypes it does not matter if those stereotypes juggle planets or, as superman was originally and somewhat less fantastically, get injured by bullets, the effect is the same. Anyway, Barbie with her impossible figure and impossible ability to transform into anyone from President to Astronaut to Party Girl seems a ripping good fantasy to me.

This is a ridiculous thread, on which I am going to post a ridiculous comment.

He Man is a superhero. He is not human. He is from another planet. He can throw mountains around. He can turn a household pet into a cryptozoological beast.

His sister She Ra is also a superhero. She too is from another planet and can throw mountains. She also has a superhero body shape. And unlike He Man, she does so while wearing a tiny skirt.

Barbie, apart from occasional departures into turning into a beautiful swan in certain sets, is supposed to be an ordinary woman who mostly has pool parties and goes on bike rides with her numerous younger sisters.

With or without the wording at the top, why have the comparison? Don't get me wrong comparisons are good for pointing out inequalities but this meme isn't pointing out inequalities. Both are objectifications of their sex. Why just not have He-man in that case speaking for himself (so to speak).

The only reason Barbie is there is to highlight that women react strongly to that image, why aren't they doing the same for He-man?

Having said all that I agree with Treats in that it's easier and more common to diss what girls may like (regardless of whether it's Barbie or baking or crafty stuff tbh) whereas boys images are called superheroes which immediately puts them in the bracket to be revered. Men and boys are already happy to disparage Barbie and her like because they are aimed at girls not because of any damage that they perceive. What girls like are just not worthy of their attention

No woman is naturally anything like the same shape as Barbie. Try looking on safari or chrome :)

And He-Man had much more well formed legs than Arnie.... his legs were rubbish.

For me, barbies body (not including boobs but a push up would hugely help) is more achievable than he-mans. Not saying either is easy and both are extremes at the end of either spectrum.

You're obviously on a wind up.

The actual human version has a better physique than He-Man does, whereas, the pictures I posted upthread of how a human Barbie would look are ridiculous.

As someone said, helping them will help our daughters.

Men really, really don't need our help here.

Barbie's figure is more achievable than He-Man's? Have you seen it? Where do her internal organs go? Why are her thighs so thin and her legs so disproportionate? Her boobs are the least of her problems IMO.

I didn't think it was that bad till I saw one of my niece's dolls with no clothes on. Barbie is grotesque.

Is this image even worth the bother to debate? I can't abide these arguments that because one thing is being campaigned for a similar thing is trotted out as if in opposition.

He man is a superhero, he also had magical powers. I know people in real life who have body shapes not dissimilar to his, both in his Prince Adam mode and as HeMan.

Barbie however cannot be replicated in human anatomy, because if she was, she would be unable to walk. Or keep her head upright, which might put a bit of a crimp in her day.

The dimensions, for both barbie and heman, are impossible to achieve with out surgery. He-man is not a super hero, maybe he had a magic sword or something.
I think the problem comes when you compare the pressure on girls/women body image vs men's. Pressure is vastly skewed to women and much more damaging.
Regarding, barbie and he-man, I don't think they are that bad in the scheme of things. They are fictional/toys/cartoons. Cartoons present many fantasy worlds. Talking animals, violence and being blown up, defying the laws of physics, etc. all taken with a pinch of salt.

Not really, Dad, in all of those the change is in the context of "real life" not an outside, supernatural agent.

Batman is closer as classic Batman doesn't have superpowers, he's a human who disguises himself. Not sure if that's still the message of Batman.

The female equivalent would be an ordinary woman being bitten by a radioactive parrot and acquiring an extreme version of looks and dress-sense - which may not make for such an exciting film.

But the female equivalent would not be an action movie, it would be more like Miss Congeniality, Pretty Woman, Princess Diaries, Devil Wears Prada etc. Any movie where a woman makes a journey from being a caterpillar to a butterfly.