Exercise: The Transformation of Barbie
The Barbie doll is the world's bat-selling toy. Three Babies are sold every second. Sales each year exceed $2 billion. In recent years, Barbie has undergone significant changes in order to broaden her appeal. According to one toy analyst, Barbie is like Betty Crocker. Her looks get updated to keep up with the times. Answer the following questions regarding Barbie and her transformation.
1. Find someone who remembers what Barbie dolls looked like decades ago. Ask this person the following questions. How did Barbie look years ago? Describe her physical appearance. What about her occupations? Could you choose the race or ethnicity of Barbie? How was it different from today's Boobies?
2. Visit a local toy store and see what kinds of Barbie dolls ate for sale. Do you think the image of Barbie has been altered? Why? Is the change driven by financial and/or social concerns? Explain. Finally, what do you disk of the changes?
3. Considerable controversy has been generated by Barbie's body proportions. There are those who argue that Barbie's body measurements deviate significantly from those of real women, and this may lead to body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, and a negative self-image. Others counter that critics such as Nickolay Lamm (using Photoshop, Lamm juxtaposed two images on the Web-a more realistic body type using data from the Center for Disease Control and a model of Bodied we making unproven assumptions about a link between toys and body image. Barbie, they maintain, is simply a toy. Which of these arguments is closer to your point of view? Why?