Barbie Research Paper

Barbie is not a Role Model

Barbie was created by Ruth Handler from and was inspired by her daughter playing with paper dolls. Barbie was first introduced in 1959, and she was completely different from all of the dolls that were being sold at that time. Throughout the 56 years since she was created, Barbie receives criticism everyday. Barbie is 5’9 and 110 pounds; she comes in different ethnicities and she comes with different jobs. It is incorrect to call Barbie an admirable role model, for the reasons that she is anorexic, she has a body type that is unrealistic, and her relationship with Ken is inappropriate for young girls.

Ruth Handler says, “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices” (Handler 1). Many people argue that Barbie is an exceptional role model for young girls and shows them that they can be anything they want to be. It is true that Barbie has around 130 careers; some of those jobs are often jobs that are dominated by men. However, in a recent study young girls were given two toys, Mr. Potato Head and Barbie. After playing with Mr. Potato Head they

Barbie’s body proportions are so distorted that she would not be able to live a healthy life if she was a real person. Barbie has a neck that is thinner and twice as longer than a normal woman; she would not even be able to raise her head. Barbie’s legs are longer than her arms by 50%, and her feet would be a size three in little girls shoes with ankles that are only 6 inches. Barbie would have to crawl on her hands and knees to get around. Barbie has a hip to waist ratio that is 56% of her hip circumference, and her waist is smaller than her head. Most normal women’s hip to waist ratio is around 80%. These unproportioned features that Barbie has creates a false image of what women are supposed to look