Barbies

I am going to form my essay around the main argument that Barbie should produce a fatter figured doll as well. Having a fat barbie would illustrate to young children who rely upon the looks of these dolls to develop ideas of the acceptable body shape, that it is okay to not have the perfect figure. Barbie being perfectly proportioned has enforced the idea that they need to look the same, if not similar to the doll in order to gain acceptance. Along with the media this can be ultimately harmful. There are so many sources out there today that enforce the idea of the perfect body, its gross. Children at such a young age should not be thinking about body image. They should be out there playing and having fun, living life while it is carefree. There will be plenty of time throughout their lives to worry about body image and how they look. It should not be something that they are thinking about as children. Barbie is a role model for young girls everywhere, and boys for the matter too (Ken); therefore, producing a fuller doll along with other body shapes would help to illustrate to the child that being different is beautiful. In addition, the production of these dolls would lead a number of media sources to expand their criteria for what is beautiful, meaning that they would be forced to market the idea that it isn't just the model figures that are beautiful, but all body types can be beautiful as well. All in all the production of such dolls would bring about change throughout the media addressing the idea of physical beauty.