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Impact of video games on youth
Impact of video games on youth
Impact of video games on youth
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Many girls around the world are playing with Barbie dolls. What they are hidden from is that those dolls are bringing them down. Little girls have a wish to be just like the Barbie doll and that sets a bad example. Barbie was originally supposed to be a role as an adult and show gender equality upon the dolls. Barbie dolls are bad influences because they cause eating disorders, false hopes, and lower self-esteem.
Barbie influences girls by what they wear to how they see their body shape. Moms all over agree that Barbie’s slim proportions are one of the many unrealistic body images bombarding girls today. Dr. Carole Lieberman a psychiatrist thinks “Barbie has been the number one most destructive force on self image of women all over the globe,” (Stone). Many women agree with Dr. Lieberman on her opinions of Barbie’s body shape and her influence. Many moms push their daughters away from Babies to toys like My Little Pony because they think toys that don’t look like unrealistic women won’t have as negative affect as Barbie (Dockterman).
Barbie is a popular young girls toy that seems harmless at first glance but can cause a lot of subconscious attitudes and thoughts. They teach girls that it is important to only focus on the outer appearance with the many different skimpy barbie outfits. Barbie's body shape is unrealistic and gives small girls the thought that the Barbie body is the “normal” body. There has been multiple other dolls that are more sexualized since barbie such as My Scene dolls and Bratz. These dolls are shown with tiny clothing, makeup and unrealistic bodies.
Toys for girls are most commonly thought of as Barbie dolls or even baby dolls. Barbie dolls have a history of being the example of a perfect girl, thus affecting how many girls see their figure compared to the waistless doll. These dolls have been presents for young girls for a long time. Women’s clothing has also been shaped around the mentality of being feminine. Stereotypically, baby dolls are a girls toy, a toy preparing girls for the feminine task of having children.
The first Barbie doll was created in 1959 by Ruth handler and manufactured by the company Mattel inc. Throughout the years Barbie has changed drastically physically and in fashion. Barbie has influenced the views that little girls have on the image of a ‘woman’ she has also influenced fashion and the positive mindset of little girls as she encourages them to be independent and successful like her. Barbie is a plastic doll, and it was easy for her to have a slim waist and big bust, but unfortunately this caused some problems for actual humans, it was unrealistic and unachievable. Girls wanted to be just like Barbie
Barbie dolls can cause negative effects on girls and these effects can sometimes last up to adulthood. The most common negative effects the barbie portrays are low self esteem, body image, materialistic things and appearances.
The new career Barbie dolls could positively influence younger girls and potentially boys. I think making the Barbies have a more normal and realistic "life style" will teach children to pursue their dreams. It will get children thinking about their future at a younger age, which could help them later in life as they go through schooling and start their lives in the work force. I think that the Barbie company should introduce more jobs such as: a firefighter, construction worker, and other jobs that are thought of as jobs only for men. That way as girls grow up they Will not be ashamed of wanting to pursue one of those careers because Barbie did it too and she is an influential figure to young children.
I don’t know if I would agree completely with Anna Quindlens, but some of her opinions did seem to make sense. I do agree that Barbie dolls have made little girls more self-conscious of themselves and that every girl deep down has wanted the “Barbie body”. I really don’t get this cause as a kid I didn’t want to look like my toys I just want to play with them. But I guess It was different for other people cause my sister always wanted to look like her favorite doll. I do see what they are talking about and I do believe the Barbie should have different body types so girls don’t have to think that they have to look like a certain person/thing.
As gender stereotypes in toys impact a child’s interest, this also influences their career choices. Through playing with toys, kids develop interests (Steinmatz). When kids are only offered half of the toys available, they don’t get the chance to gain interest in the toys declared for the opposite sex. Gender stereotypes limit the variety of toys that kids will form interests and skills upon (Clayton). The skills and interests kids develop during childhood shape what academic and career choices they make as adults (“Toys”).
You would want to show that you were more mature, so you would put bigger tires on your monster truck, or that you really liked a color so you changed the Barbie Doll’s hair color to pink. No matter what happened, that toy was everything to you. But what was owning these toys turning us into, selfish and greedy children? These toys would
Barbie is constantly being put above others. Everyone is created equal, but when Barbie is deemed better than everyone kids can feel worthless compared to
Growing up it is no secret that the majority of the toys we played with had either a positive or negative influence on how we saw the world. With many toys, such as Barbie and other dolls, they taught children that it was, in a way, okay to accept certain stereotypes. These dolls were mainly centered around girls, so I personally never experienced this kind of "pressure" on how the world wanted to see me, however it is very clear that this was the goal. Although there are plenty of examples on how other companies framed life as a certain individual as inevitable, there were also many toys that did the opposite. One toy in particular that comes into mind is a simple box of Legos.
A Barbie Doll is a plastic toy that can move and looks like a person. Barbie Dolls have been on the market since 1959. People who play with the dolls are as young as six or seven and have some bad feeling about them. Barbie Dolls have made over seven billion dollars over the past fifty years. However, the young children can get upset by how they look, how it can cause poor mental health and body image issues,and how they are not age appropriate.
How do we know that all children who buy Barbies see her as a physical role model? Nobody can really say for sure that the physical appearance of the doll isn’t dangerous, because it’s very possible that it is. Though, is the doll really all that corrupting? It is 2015 and society changed in a way that allows women to have more equal rights.
Barbie’s Good Influence on Children Barbie has been the most popular doll since her debut on March 9, 1959. She has been changing ever since then, by changing her jobs and hobbies. Like the New York times said, “Barbie is a positive role model, and a legend.” (Justina Sharp) (Ethos). Barbie has made record sales ever since that day in March of 1995, but the criticism has been relentless.