Hello everyone!
I thought it would be neat if I posted one of the papers I've written for my college English class.
I have yet to get a grade back on this, but I thought I would be neat to share anyway!
Bulimia is a serious problem in America and around the world where anyone has the media at the tips of their fingers. If you are bulimic or anorexic, please go get help, because all your doing is slowly killing yourself to reach perfection that doesn't exist.
God made you beautiful just the way you are; never forget that.
-Didymus
Bulimic Barbie
It’s Christmas Eve and your eight year old daughter is sitting, wide eyed on the floor by the Christmas tree. The fire is crackling in the fireplace and the scent of ham is floating around the room. You’re visiting with your parents on the couch as your little girl is rolling around on the floor with her beloved dog opening her presents.
The little girl lets out a scream of delight, “Its Kim!” She jumps off the ground and shows you her new Kim Kardashian Barbie doll.
“It sure is,” you smile down at the girl and realize that the only reason she knows who Kim Kardashian is is because she’s seen you watch her show.
Let’s fast forward a few years. Your little girl is now eighteen and you are sitting in a hospital waiting room. You stare up at the clock on the wall; It’s been two hours. It shouldn’t be taking this long, so why isn’t anybody out here telling you what’s going on? Why is it taking so long, what could be wrong?
“Excuse me, ma’am?” a young doctor calls you from the desk. You jump out of your seat and join him within seconds. “What’s going on? When can I see my daughter? Is she alright?” you attack him with questions.
“I’m so sorry to inform you, but your daughter has passed away.” You feel the floor fall out from underneath you. “Wha-what?” you stutter. “She passed away from malnourishment; we have reason to believe that she was bulimic.”
For some people, this scenario seems a bit extreme. However this is a reality for the twenty-four million people who suffer from eating disorders in the US (2003). Anorexia, depriving one’s self of food, and Bulimia, A habitual circle of gorging and purging, are two of the most common eating disorders that plague our lives and country today. They are the byproducts of dissatisfaction for one’s figure. This dissatisfaction takes it roots in the media. This is why I believe that Barbie should not support the media by modeling their dolls off of celebrities.
Even from an early age, children are exposed to all the media has to offer. Levine and Smolak refer to “the glorification of slenderness” where television programs feature actresses that are below average weight and whose characters are seen as happier and more desirable than the average weight characters (1996). Our children are taught the key to happiness is being skinny.
You may be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with Barbie?” It is no big secret that Mattel has been partnering with several actors and actresses to make “Barbie’s friends”. These are very lucrative sales strategies for both parties. Mattel reels the fans of the actors and actresses into their bankroll by modeling their products after prominent media figures such as, Cher, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. The producers get to benefit by bringing in the Barbie fans as an audience. This is a very good example of a “win-win” situation that clouds the judgment of Mattel’s marketing advisors as they begin to pay more attention to sales and less attention to the psychological damage that they are making on the very kids they are trying to reach.
However, what happens to these young people when they get addicted to certain shows? They watch more TV. In a study conducted by Clark and Tiggermann, the results showed that girls that watched more than eight hours of television a week, showed greater signs of body dissatisfaction than girls who watched less (2007). That’s only two or three shows a day!
Things could also get worse if Mattel chooses less than moral celebrities to model for them. A few weeks ago there was some controversy about the Kardashian Barbie. If Mattel were to have gone through with its plans to create Kim, Kloe and Kourtney, think of the audience that would be eventually sucked into their program. Do you want your little sister to feel like her body is less than adequate and that she needs to change herself to look like Kim?
Some people will say that the real problem with Barbie is her unrealistic body. They will say that once Barbie is built to realistic proportions and an accurate body weight, it will fix the problem. This simply isn’t the case. Galia Slayen, an active voice in the “Get Real Barbie” campaign and previous anorexic, is quoted saying, “I’m not blaming Barbie [for my illness] — she’s one small factor, an environmental factor” (2011). Barbie is more like a doorway into the world of media “beauty” and self-hatred. What she advertises has a greater impact on young girls than her proportions ever did.
Barbie is an iconic symbol around the world, and she has done a lot of good and given many people hope for their futures. She expresses the values of individuality, such as “follow your dreams” and inward beauty. To take away Barbie is to take away the childhood of millions of people around the world. But Mattel needs to have better control over their choices for models for theirs celebrity dolls. Barbie should not support shows that promote a dissatisfaction of body image to girls in the most vulnerable time of their lives. Don’t let this situation become a reality for your daughters, sisters, and nieces, but give them support to stand above the crowd with their confidence and their own beauty. Let their example be a light to those who are desperately trying to be “perfect”.
