Women from an organization called Afro-lific from Columbus, GA visited a school and spoke to a classroom full of African-American girls. In this presentation they talked about how Barbies are only white and also how they only had long and blond hair. This is s a bad thing because when you only give a little black girl white dolls and tell them that this is beauty and they do not look like them they will strive to look like them when in the end it is futile. This is not only tiring for the girls striving towards this "perfection" but also it can cause depression and eventually maybe even suicide.
In your opinion what is the perfect Barbie and what are the reprocussions of this Barbie, if there are any?
http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/21/barbie-gets-a-natural-hair-makeover/
If I were to make a Barbie I think I would make a Barbie with tan skin and would have very distinct features. But, also I would try to make the Barbie mixed wth many different ethnicities like me. I would do this because, when you are in the middle it may still hae the reprocussions of a Barbie in general but, the ideal is something that everyone already has. My hope would be that girls would see that perfection comes in many shades and shapes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shaniece to a degree, my hope would also be to have little girls realize that beauty comes in all different shapes and shades! But I disagree with the statement that perfection comes in different shapes and shades; I was taught at a young age that no one is perfect. I think the afro-lific group is a good idea because it got the black and tan Barbie’s made. I do think they are a little sensitive because in reality no one looks like a Barbie. The fact that they dipped the Barbie’s, to change their skin color is a big and productive step. They do not make Barbie’s for every single person. All of the Barbie’s have super long legs, and straight hair; which is different from the way I, and many others, look! I think as long as the “Barbie makers” support and produce multi-racial Barbie’s then the afro-lific group should accept this as a start.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Allie. Nobody is perfect and the barbie dolls give young girls the idea that that is what is considered beautiful, when in fact nobody naturally looks like a Barbie doll. However, the idea of creating Barbie dolls with darker skin colors makes the young girls feel like they can be beautiful even though they do not have white skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. I think the perfect Barbie doll would not be just one doll. I feel that there should be many different dolls with many different characteristics to give everyone the idea that each person is beautiful in their own unique way.
ReplyDeleteI think that the perfect Barbie doll would have to be just a whole new line of Barbies. Maybe they could have her be different shades, have her gain a few pounds, maybe few a little shorter, different eye and hair colors, different ear mouth and nose shapes. I think that this could be the perfect line of Barbie's would be the perfect idea but no one Barbie could be the perfect doll, because nobody is perfect, we all have flaws and things we don't like about our selves.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with them, that there is no perfect barbie because young girls need a image for them to look up too. But this image needs to reflect themselves in a way, which with all different looking girls through out the world we would need more barbies so that we could show all these differences. Barbie's are a big part of a young girl's life because they are brainwashed to believe that if you look like barbie then you would be beautiful. The repercussions of the barbie are that girls strive to look like them and some even go to extremes.
ReplyDeleteI do not understand the question of what I believe is the perfect Barbie is that asking what I think the perfect girl looks like? I think the perfect Barbie would just be the original Barbie no matter what Barbie is not going to look like someone, so if this truly is that big of an issue then it seems very simple and easy to make Barbie's that look different representing different nationalities. But it is also a business and from a business perspective they probably find that more white dolls would get bought than any other race and that’s why they keep it. But if Barbie is a problem then so is superman, G.I. Joe, batman, and others for boys that are all white.
ReplyDeleteThe perfect barbie is no barbie at all. No young girl should have to compare herself to anything else to look how she wants to look. In fact, with having something to compare yourself to, you won't be how you want to look, only how others think you should look. Giving children toys for them to compare themselves to only hurts them in the long run. If they are going to make an African-American doll they should also make dolls of all shapes and sizes too. If they made dolls of all colors, shapes, and sizes, there would be nothing for the children to compare themselves to.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there should be a "perfect Barbie". Girls shouldn't see these Barbies and think that they need to look like this. They will try to make themselves look like the Barbies so they can be perfect. The girls will just end up hurting themselves with the belief that the Barbies are perfect and they are not. The makers of Barbie should make a wide variety of the dolls in all shapes and sizes. They should try to make girls of all types feel that they are beautiful. Then girls would see all the variety of Barbies of all different shapes, sizes, colors, etc. and realize that everyone is beautiful in their own way. The only repercussion I can think of is that the girls might start judging the Barbies as to which one looks better. But if they all feel beautiful, there's no need for that.
ReplyDeleteThe perfect Barbie doll is doll that girls like. And whatever that is is what perfect is. There is no such thing as prefect. Everyone standard are different and tha means that there is no ONE perfect. There should be a barbiefor every race. This black Barbie that the dip in a tanner liquid isn't good enough to represent a black Barbie. Most races have physical differences and those shuld he repeestened in every doll to not set a bad example for girls to try to fallow as the grow. It's a well no fact that if barbie was a real human she wouldn't be ableto support herself wh her chest and tiny waist. That a good example for setting a goal for failing
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates above. I believe there is not one perfect barbie, but many different barbies that suit different races. Barbies are dolls that were made to be toys for children. I personally don't believe that the creator of this popular doll thought of the impact it would have at this time. Instead of being a fun, toy for children, it is instead becoming another sore point on race. In today's society, I think that a barbie should depict healthy women of all shapes, sizes, and shades.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a few of my other classmates that the perfect Barbie wouldn't be just one Barbie. It would be several different Barbies with different races and features. I think that girls shouldn't all want to be long legged, blonde hair, blue eyes Barbie there should be different ideals; more realistic ones. Barbie is an impossible woman, however little girls don't know that so they are striving to be impossible. So I think the perfect Barbie would be diverse and realistic.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a few of my classmates above. Barbies always going to be that stereotypical tall, skinny and blond hair. If its a business people are going to do what ever makes money, and also i do believe that it is too late to change the barbie image but they could produce barbies with different ethnicity's. This would make girls of different races feel a little more excluded.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Trevor the most out of all of my classmates. Barbies are made by big corporations, not by little girls. I cannot say for sure, but I think it is fair to assume that the corporation that makes Barbie will do what they can to make the most Barbie possible. With that said, I think that there is no such thing as a perfect Barbie because every person has different traits that they view as perfect. It would be impossible to encompass everyone's views into one twenty dolls, not to mention one or two. I do feel that Barbies should be made into more races though. It would probably improve product sales and would ultimately please more people. Many of my classmates are bringing up the issue about the Barbies be "dipped" in a dark dye to make them appear dark skinned. I do not see a problem with this at all. No company is going to make more work for themselves just to please a few people who actually know about the "dipping" process. In short, I think that the Barbie dolls that are out now and have been out for many years are perfectly fine. In my opinion, making dolls of different ethnicity would be a great way to make all girls feel for included and would be better for the company as well.
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as the "perfect Barbie". No matter what kind of Barbie is made, someone is going t o disagree with it. I think it is pretty safe to say that when little girls go in to a toy store and pick out what doll they want, most of them would pick one that somewhat resembles what they look like and the barbies that have similar features. Having said that, Barbies should be made in all different ethnicities, making a better variety for all sorts of girls out there. As Allie said beauty comes in all different shapes and shades. Today the typical Barbie is tall with a perfect looking body and long blonde hair. Not every girl looks like that, so it is only sending the message that this is what girls should grow up to look like. In conclusion, there is no such thing as the perfect Barbie, but I do think it would be perfect if there was a wide variety of different Barbies to choose from, I think that's fair.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates also. There is no perfect Barbie doll for every little girl or boy that plays with them. Everyone looks different and there is no way to incorporate every single ethnicity into one doll. Even when Time magazine did it, the person didn’t look “white” or “black”, they looked like somebody in the middle. I agree with John that in order to create a perfect Barbie, a whole new line would have to be made. They should do something like the American Doll company does, a look-a-like line. There are multiple combinations to try to fit almost every type of person out there. I remember when I got my look-a-like doll, I felt so special that I had a doll that looked just like me. I remember thinking that I must be really special if the company was smart enough to make a doll with my hair, eye and skin color.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the people before me, there really is no one "perfect" barbie. They would have to make all different types of barbies, with different skin colors, hair colors, heights, but I think the biggest thing is the barbie would have to have possible features. It's unfair that young girls have to compare themselves to this impossible figure. I'm not saying they should make every barbie from normal weight to morbidly obese, but barbies that if were real would be an ideal, healthy weight.
ReplyDeleteI think there would not be a perfect barbie doll, unless like John said, there was a whole line. A barbie may look perfect to one girl but not to another because like Allie had mentioned, perfection comes in different sizes and shapes. I think by making a mix of ethnicity within the line of dolls would show everyone that really is not definition to what perfection is because everyone would be considered that. I also agree wit Sam though. The perfect barbie would be the original. Like Matt said, the doll was not made to show little girls what they should look like; it's just a doll to play with. This is why agree with Sam. A barbie was made to look a certain way not to undermine what others look like but to make a product. that little girls would enjoy. If it were up to me I would just try to include all types of looks for the barbie.
ReplyDeleteThe perfect Barbie has and most common Barbie has blonde hair, blue eyes and for a children’s toy, has a lot of shape and tone features added to the body. I believe though that there is no such thing as a “perfect Barbie,” just that there is a type of Barbie that children want to associate themselves with and look like because to them having a similar appearance as the toy they play with and look up to will make them also as “perfect” as Barbie. There are many repercussions o Barbie, it is fun to most young girls to play with but Barbie also affects many young girls and especially African American girls negatively. There are some African American Barbie’s, but to the African American girls they would rather appear to be like the Barbie with long, straight blonde hair, blue eyes and white coloring. This idea and belief of striving to look like Barbie in order to be perfect makes young African American girls uncomfortable and not happy with their own appearance, they become disappointed and depressed at too young of an age.
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