“Barbie is just a doll,” (Mary Schmich), but some women seem to think otherwise. People either hate or love Barbie. Many people love her because she has a carefree lifestyle with as many possessions as she wants. Many people dislike her because she sets unrealistic expectations when it comes to her body image. Barbie came to life in 1959 by Mattel, but to be more specific, she was created by Ruth Handler. Mrs. Handler got the idea to create a plastic adult doll when she saw her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls and getting frustrated every time one ripped (Stone). Barbie has survived years of feminist attacks against her lifestyle and body size yet Barbie comes back stronger every time. Barbie has had strong influences, past and present, …show more content…
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). One women who agrees with him thinks that Barbies are based on supermodels and then they push everyone to look skinny like her. On the other hand many women and girls disagree with the fact that Barbie is a negative influence. When a mom railed against Barbie and called it terrible role model her daughter told her not to be silly because Barbie is just a toy. Many women are also surprised when they find out girls were negatively affected by Barbie. Ann Marie was one of those women, she said “I was surprised later in life to discover that there were women who grew up thinking that Barbie was suppose to represent the ‘perfect’ female body,” Ann Marie thought Barbie was just a doll alike many other girls in the world. A girl who agreed with Ann Marie said she was heavy as a child and Barbie made her feel better as a child (Stone). This is all to show that Barbie is one of America's most positive and negative influential forces on girls