To think that Barbie advert can piss off?

[TammySwansonTwo]

Starts with a small girl giving a lecture to a room full of adults, then switches to showing her actually playing with barbies. Then says something about how when you're playing with Barbie you can be anything you want to be.

Huh, really? Like something other than an anatomically inaccurate sexualised image of a woman? DFOD.

Anyone seen it?

That telegraph articles say 4 year olds know how to lose weight - they're not learning that from a doll, they're learning that from their mum. At that age parents are the most important influence.

As people have pointed out time and again -with pictures, now, Barbie looks a lot different to how you're thinking of her.

The advert encourages little girls to aspire to success, and shows that it's OK to be the person in the room who knows the most - they shouldn't hide that.

So Barbie isn't the problem. Sure, she could probably still use a bit of tweaking, but the company have shown they're happy to do that. It's not them clinging to an ideal of a tall blonde barbie with a wasp waist - it's you , op!

I'm not sure which part you're referring to?

By normal they probably one "a body type that is actually feasible"

There's actually a theory that the more 'abstract' a representation of a person is, the easier it is for people to 'see themselves' in it. If something looks too realistic, then you just view it as 'someone else', but if it doesn't look like a real person then it could also be you. It's a little complicated but it could also work with dolls understandingcomics177.wordpress.com/about/1-2/2-2/3-2/

Ok I read further.... the normal doll was the ‘Emme ‘ doll ... here..

There's actually a theory that the more 'abstract' a representation of a person is, the easier it is for people to 'see themselves' in it.

This is also why main characters are often written to be blander than their sidekicks. They're essentially a blank slate for the reader/viewer to project themselves onto.

Fantasy crumbles when reality bites.

This is my daughters “normal sized” Barbie doll.

YANBU. Barbie's origins were definitely not child-friendly. She started life as an idealised bimbo doll given as a gag gift to men. An actual pocket venus: time.com/3731483/barbie-history/

I'd want my child of either or any gender to be happy playing with a doll that reflects normal human proportions. She can be anything she wants to be without also having to be ridiculously proportioned.

Bratz, MH and their ilk are not intended to be indications of actual humans are they? They're fantasy creatures like MLPs and Super-hero dolls. They're supposed to be fairy-tale like and not vets, doctors, accountants and what-ever-it-is that Barbie is pretending to be this year.

She's not "just a doll". She's an unhealthy, unreal, aspiration. Ugh.

Healthy and real are two different things though

Size 16 is now the average size of a woman in the Uk.... it’s real but it’s not healthy.

tammy I see my prediction of emergent sense hasn't occurred yet...

I find it depressing how chunky and 'fat' the more realistic dolls look. I can't believe how trained we are to impossible waists and anime eyes.

I have just consulted dd a young person in her late teens as I know she used to play with Barbies (and Bratz) as a kid.
She says she never equated Barbies with humans or even thought about their shape or what they looked like in relation to herself or other people at all. Never even crossed her mind.

"It was a toy. It was just a Barbie"

So there we are then. Just a toy. Fuss about nothing if you ask me.

My beautiful brown haired and green eyed nearly 4 year old was playing with her barbies the other day and out of nowhere said she wishes she could have blonde hair, blue eyes and pink lips like her barbie doll. It's concerning.

It's not a conscious assessment. I posted articles and studies upthread about this.

Oh coffee, that really sucks :(

Do you know what I think it considerably more damaging to women & girls than a lump of plastic with nylon hair?

The repellent misogyny of people like the OP who think it’s acceptable to patronise and insult other women who may hold different opinions.

If you care so much about the effect that society has on females, OP, why not have the manners and decency to take onboard other opinions? You are not the only person with a fanny and ovaries...there’s quite a few of us and we all have as many brain cells as you, thanks.

Being told we’re wrong for thinking what we think has always been a male preserve...but now a certain type of ranting “feminist” desperate for a bit of online validation seems to be taking over.

Fucking ridiculous.

My beautiful brown haired and green eyed nearly 4 year old was playing with her barbies the other day and out of nowhere said she wishes she could have blonde hair, blue eyes and pink lips like her barbie doll. It's concerning.

Why? Take the Barbie doll out of the equation and there's every chance she would have said she wishes she could have a different colour hair/eyes, just from looking at the people around her.

Young children's biggest influences are their parents/wider family/teachers/Brownie/Scouts leaders etc.

They're far more influenced by them than a plastic doll that they get to play with for a relatively short time in their lives.

Also.... if you had given her a red haired Barbie then she would want that

A brown eyed barbie
A mermaid barbie

Human nature isn’t it? Hence we have makeup/ hair dye/operations

We all want something we haven’t got. Regardless of dolls!

I've got red hair and green eyes and never wanted any other colour tbh. Our mum told us we were perfect and would never need to dye out hair.

I wasn't a dolly type - we had barbies (older siblings cast offs) but we used to lob their hair off and try to flush them down the loo or get the cats to nail them (gladiator style).

Do boys have the same level of body image expectations as women, and the same sense of being defined primarily by their appearance, and therefore the likelihood of being susceptible to these images from a young age?

Heard of Action Man? Surely that's the perception that to be a 'real man' you must be strong and have rippling muscles! Exactly the same!

rates of eating disorders

I am sure eating disorders are much much more than wanting to be thin

Except that men aren't as subjected to influences which tell him that how he looks is going to affect his value in the world.

Rampant misogyny? That's literally hilarious. I am amused by the irony of being called a misogynistic for calling out the denial of the inherent misogyny of our society, and why these things do matter, as backed up by multiple studies, a few of which I've already shared.

I've suffered from eating disorders my entire life, I don't need a lecture on what eating disorders are, thanks. As shown in the study I posted previously, there's evidence of girls literally eating less after playing with ridiculously proportioned dolls.

And as I've already explained (repeatedly including in the bit you've quoted), action man isn't so much of an issue when the myriad social cues are not focussed on male appearance.

so you've come on here to shout about what you've read on the internet to 'enlighten' us poor mumsnetters,and to try to make yourself look incredibly insightful?

instead, you've come across as a bit of a knob,throwing about a few key words and adding in a few links...

if op doesn't have a dd her perspective may be skewed.
we started banning pink, barbie etc. didn't have the slightest impact - pink was her favourite colour until a year or so ago when it became black.(mid year 3)
the barbie dam was breached by grandparents - subsequently barbies and monster high stimulated fabulous role play - many of these suffered scalping and ink/paint decoration in support of said role play - yet these still feature in play, often as their original character name, despite being downright grotesque.

I'd posit that body image is far more related to observation of female family members, peers and school seniors with especial impacts from casual comments.

Eg what would you expect the impact of a mum who is say perpetually dieting to be, relative to a barbie? my current issue is a slightly older friend who is into makeup.

But where do you think the mums formed their ideas, which subsequently influence the way we raise our daughters? From the messages we were bombarded with as children and young women, including our toys.

FFS, are people being deliberately obtuse?

Barbie started off as a porn doll. She may have evolved into a symbol of female empowerment but only because the commercial world responds to the moving zeitgeist.

Sorry but what’s wrong with long legs and a small waist?

That’s not the question though is it? The real question is what is so wrong with short legs and a normal waist?

And no one is saying that women can’t be intelligent, successful and beautiful. But why can’t they be intelligent, successful and ugly and still be feted in the same way that so many men/male characters in the media are?