BellaOnline Forums Beauty and Self Body Image HELP with dissertation

Hi everyone I'm researching my dissertation on Barbie and the media and its influence on young girls and their perception of body image. I was just wondering what peoples view on this subject is. Do you think Barbie is a bad influence on young girls? Do you think the media places expectations on girls? Do you think images of women in the media has a direct influence on girls? whatever your view, please share! maybe you think people use the media as a scapegoat!?!? Any help you can give me would be amazing especially anything on the subject of Barbie. Did you have one? Do you think you picked up any negative body perceptions from the tiny, unrealistically proportioned toy!?!? more importantly...Would you give your children one???

I think it's a combination of everything.

We live in a pretty shallow society. The media and society as a whole tend to make women believe they should look a certain way. That only a thin, busty woman is attractive, which isn't so.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone has their own perception of what is beautiful. That's what makes the world go round.

But as far as Barbie goes, I grew up playing with Barbies and I adored them. Barbie didn't affect my self esteem one bit. Perhaps this isn't the case with everyone but for me, Barbie had no influence on my self worth.
And yes, I would give my child a Barbie but I would also try my best to instill the good strong values my parents instilled in me.
There are many toys that may influence a child negatively. Guns or video games for example. But it's a parents job to teach kids about these toys.

I think the biggest influence on a child's self esteem are their parents. I was raised with lots of love and was always told that no matter what I looked like, there were people who were going to love me regardless.
My dad always taught me to use my brain before my looks. I was also taught not to follow the media or Hollywood. I think too many kids today idol worship celebrities and that's never a good thing.

I personally am sick of women being subjected and subjecting themselves as sex objects. Girls nowadays are bombarded with horrible sexual images of women. I think more than ever. I can't even stand watching most movies now because just about every actress takes their clothes off on screen. It's ridiculous what girls are seeing today. You would think with all the freedoms we now have as women, we wouldn't have to deal with this but we do. Racism has been a big issue in our society, but when are we going to deal with sexism?

I'm sorry if this post was a bit jumbled. I'm in a hurry. I'm interested in what others have to say on this issue. Glad you brought up the topic

As a mother of a 10 year old girl, quite definately the media has an effect. Not just on young girls but nearly every woman, as it always has had thoughout history. It is just the availability of the media and images of just one type of woman that imo gives us problems. Back in Roman ages the female statues had detachable hair pieces so that a new piece could be added in the latest fashion so this is nothing new. Corsets to hold you in the correct female shape. People are the same throughout history and our sociable nature makes us want to conform. Our issues now is the lack of a different model to conform to. The only images that are deemed acceptable and not risible are slim young women with lots of makeup. Look at the top 100 most beautiful women and the image is almost the same in every picture, young, sexily posed with as little clothes as possible, lots of makeup and over produced hair. Check out the top 100 most handsome guys and you have an abundence of images, old, young, handsome, craggy, all types for us. As far as Barbie goes, I think that she is quite innocuous compared to the music vidoes and fashion magazines and newspapers who report every celebraty lb gained as a horror story and every lb lost as an achievement. My little girl worries she's too fat and wont be liked, I try to give her a good positive image of herself but she still falls into that mindset.

Not sure if you're still gathering feedback as this topic is a few months old but here's my 2 cents. Barbie is just one example of the messages we send girls about their value, and about the importance of fitting a specific ideal body and beauty image. If it was JUST Barbie, then she would be one of a variety, and we would have no issues. Instead she is sort of the icon of the ideal that we've been force fed from every direction. I remember as a young girl I used to LOVE the show Three's Company, but as I look back on it now, I realize how much my view of the value of a woman was informed by that show and I'm sure many others. The message I got is that women are valued for their bodies and beauty, over and above any intelligence. In particular the blonder and bustier, the better.... And of course you must be thin. If you're naive and scantily clad, all the better. You can be pretty, but if you're smart and sensible, and wear more conservative clothing, you'll be less appealing to men. And, being appealing to men is the #1 concern of women (that's not what I think, but it's the message I was fed in my formative years and while I disagree intellectually, it's an issue for me in my core). I worry about young girls today, the images and characters they see on TV and movies show girls who take sex as matter of fact... there's no more "should I or shouldn't I?" about sex, it's assumed that you will. I saw an early episode of the new 90210 and a girl was giving her BF a BJ in the car before school, and it was done so matter of factly without any stress or shock or anything. This is the most insidious type of influence, because no one is questioning, it's not the major point of the plot or anything. Back in our day, these types of things were usually delivered as a major plot point with the main characters having angst about it, and in the end would choose the safe choice (ie: not to do it). When it's not even a plot point, but just sort of "by the way" in the background, it is taken in more subconsciously. Kids already don't have the critical thinking skills yet developed to challenge what they're seeing, so these types of images really affect them and what they think is "normal."