Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Barbie: A Doll or A Role Model?
A lot of the articles we've been reading in class have to do with the image that Barbie promotes and how she has become a bad role model for the young girls that play with her. There is one question I have regarding these articles: who decided that dolls were role models for young girls? I see Barbie as a way to play out the imagination of children. Almost every child likes to pretend and imagine what it would be like to be an adult in the world. They "play pretend" and "make believe" that they are older. Playing "dress-up" is putting on the clothes in your mother's closet and acting like a woman, instead of a girl. Playing "mommy" is taking a doll and pretending it is your baby. They even sell baby dolls to young girls that do almost everything a baby does so "playing mommy" is more realistic. Barbie is a way to play out the life of a grown-up. Barbie can be anything you want her to be. She can be a doctor one day, and a teacher the next. I don't want to speak for every girl, but I never once looked at Barbie and thought, "I want to look just like this doll." The only thing I every thought about when I was playing with Barbie is, "what will Barbie do today, and what outfit is she going to wear." I think Barbie is more about playing out the imagination of young girls, and less about how her appearance is setting a standard for young girls.
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2 comments:
I agree with Madi that Barbies are used to express imagination. But I do not agree about being role models. Barbies are role models to the girls who play with them. When we were young we would build houses and families out of our Barbies. We would put together the perfect world because at the age that Barbies are played at you do not know the imperfections in the world. But because of that imagination you hope that one day you will have cute clothes, a dream house and a perfect husband with cute kids. So in a way they are role model for what we want to look like and have when we are older. There is a reason why these manufactures make bribes with different characteristic of hair eyes and skin color. To match what you look like. So you can pretend that’s you in ten years. Today they also make Barbies with different professions like a cop Barbie, a doctor Barbie and many other kinds of jobs. Although we are young and use them to play with they are role models for us. Maybe it is not noticeable because you don’t think about it when you play with them they are effecting you somehow.
I overall agree with Megan and Maddie in a way. Yes, Barbies are used to ezpress imagination but Barbies are role models and have been since I was a little girl. I would dress my Barbie up how I would want to dress, with the high heels and the cute dresses. I also had a pink car which I always wish I could have in real life. Also Barbie had a dream house that was PINK. Overall I think that the simply doll was someone who all girls wanted to be when they got older and maybe thats why the doll was so appealing. We could play who we wanted to be when we got older threw a doll.
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