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Unrealistic Standards Of Being Perfect: Barbie Vs. Reality

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Unrealistic Standards of Being Perfect : Barbie vs. Reality Everyone has heard of a Barbie doll. The idealized, Barbie doll creates an image of a fake “perfect” woman. This is what society is basing the perfect ideal image of the almost impossible, unrealistic womanized standards off. Society has become so determinate on being perfect, focusing on the body and appearance. This is affecting women and girls all over the world and appears that it is only going to get worse. The standards on women have changed so drastically in several ways. Nina Bahadur states that, “A woman with a “perfect body” in 1930 would barely get a second look from Hollywood producers or model casting agents today”. Due to societies almost impossible expectations, it has negatively impacted women everywhere causing several complications. In a Science Daily article researchers state, “Adolescents with negative body image concerns may engage in mental illnesses and eating disorders such as depression, anxiety, suicidality, anorexia, bulimia, and even body dysmorphic disorder”. These illnesses can make an enormous negative impact on a person’s life because of societies …show more content…

Unfortunately, today’s society is nowhere near relatable to other past centuries because of how drastically society has become. Previously in the 1950’s, “Marilyn Monroe was certainly considered a beauty in her own time, and still is, but Marilyn Monroe was no size one and probably not even a three or a five” (Worley 407). Now, because of the way society has created their own ideal perfect body, society would not even consider Marilyn Monroe to have the perfect body like she did in her time. According to Jean Kilbourne, “It has been estimated that twenty years ago the average model weighed 8 percent less than the average woman; today she weighs 23 percent less” (Worley

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Over time women have faced and overcome multiple obstacles. In this day and age, women have gained the right to vote, receive an education, and make their own decisions about their life. However, women are still faced with the struggle of fitting into societal norms, and this is becoming increasingly dangerous in our mass media society. For centuries, society has made females feel as if they must fit into the barbie doll image created by a patriarchal society. Some women face eating disorders, plastic surgeries, an abundance of makeup, or even the idea of suicide to elude thoughts of being less than ideal in other people's eyes.

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