Barbie!

Slayen, Galia. "The Scary Reality of a Real-Life Barbie Doll." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Apr. 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2013.

This image comes from a campaign that was created by a college student in 2011 for the first National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (NEDAW). The Get Real Barbie campaign was an act to show how no matter how perfect Barbie may be, her image is not a reality. I chose this source because I have seen this picture many times and it definitely sends out a message to girls and women of all ages. The image of a life-size scaled Barbie definitely relates to the topic of how the media affects eating disorders. A Barbie doll is not the typical “media” that most people think of when it comes to fake or unnatural body image. However, the Barbie doll is one of the best examples. The life-size Barbie stands six feet tall, with a 39 - inch bust, 18 - inch waist, and 33 - inch hips. You can tell from the picture that this is not realistic at all. What’s interesting is that every girl, as a child, wants to be perfect – like a Barbie! The idea of a “perfect” body that Barbie portrays creates an unrealistic idea of how a girl’s body should look. The body image of Barbie is definitely a large part of the media affecting eating disorders in young girls. This image definitely grabs my attention, and I’m sure many other girls feel the same way. The message that it sends to me is that “perfect” isn’t pretty. According to Barbie, perfectly perfect is awkward and looks very disproportional. I don’t think any woman actually wants to look like the life-size Barbie in the picture. It definitely aims to convey the message that girls don’t have to be “perfect” to be beautiful! It encourages women to embrace themselves and their beauty for how they are, and not to strive for unrealistic perfection.