Below is a picture from the ‘ Get Real Barbie Campaign ‘ started by Galia Slayen, who built this Barbie based on the dolls actual proportions for her highschool’s National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (NEDAW) and later introducing her to her college’s first ever NEDAW. Galia struggled with anorexia herself, so she decided to show the world exactly how much Barbie was influencing body image. According to her campaign if Barbie was real she would be 5’9” tall, have a 39” bust, an 18” waist, 33” hips and a size 3 shoe. The proportions of the Barbie above may look scary but what’s scarier is that so many girls look up to Barbie and aspire to look just like her.
This isn’t the first time people have criticized Barbie’s body shape. In 1965 they released ‘Slumber Party Barbie’ who came with a book on how to lose weight, inside all it said was ‘Don’t Eat’. It was coupled with a scale that was permanently set to a very very slim 110 pounds. They removed the scale from the ’66/’67 version but still kept the book and its infamous rule.
Good for Galia for exposing the truth behind a toy that for so long was viewed as harmless. The pressure to be perfect can begin at any age, but with dolls as role models we can be sure that future generations will always feel inadequate to their good friend Barbie. What can we do? I say we should make a Barbie for everyone. Barbies of all different shapes and colors. Barbies with scales set at 110. 130, 160 , 190 and 250. Different Barbies for different girls so that every girl knows that they are beautiful.