Volume – 12 – Living in a Barbie World
Barbie. A simple childs toy? Some may say so, although many would argue that it is a symbol expressing social reality. That this simple doll embeds meaning and power over our social psyche. This was discussed briefly today by Dr. Strangelove during his lecture, bringing up the idea of the highly sexualized femininity that is involved with the Barbie doll.
The author Kristen Noelle Weissman stated in her novel The Icon, The Image, The Ideal the following:
The Barbie doll is an iconic image. The symbol of the “feminine ideal” which has caused women to perceive & recognize this figure in a personal light..As a predominant feature in American culture & society, she is a fictitious character that many have contrived into a reality. She is a name that strikes instant familiarity, & she is a name that evokes controversy, emulation, & success.
The symbol is so strong in fact that as Dr. Strangelove stated, children who play with a Barbie dolls are proven to be unsatisfied with their own figure and personal appearance after some time. In my eyes, Barbie is just another reflection of the expectations of society. One can see these expectations in all forms of media but espicially throuhg advertising. Unfortunately, there is no other symbol for the ‘feminine ideal’ that reaches children at such a young age. This can often lead to troubling issues involving self-image with many young children. This had such a strong effect on one women in particular, Cindy Jackson, that she actually has consistently reconstructed her physical appearance into the image of the Barbie doll. Kristen Noelle Weissman further stated in her novel The Icon, The Image, The Ideal the following:
The examination of the doll and her glamorous lifestyle was to Jackson a parallel symbol of womanhood, and the attraction persisted until her visualization was immersed into reality… She proclaims that her acceptance into the popular culture and society will only be formulated when she has achieved the “right look” in its entirety
This is obviously an extreme case however the point is made clear all the same. Barbie is a symbol of the ideal form of feminity, and giving it to young girls as a toy is an obvious way to create a negative influence on their self-image. The fact that this image is literally physically impossible to obtain just reinforces the social pressures facing women in todays society.
