If Barbie is a bad influence, why are so many teens obese?
ReseaRCH by revered body image experts claim there’s now such a thing as Barbie syndrome, which places girls who play with the dolls in danger of developing bad body-image issues, which can lead to dangerous eating disorders and low self-esteem.
That’s a lot to place on the slender shoulders of my own adored childhood toy.
Who among us can forget the moment we ripped open the Christmas wrapping to reveal that iconic, exquisite form?
My Barbie had lustrously wavy brunette hair, torpedo breasts, a teeny waist and the long slender legs I’d hoped I’d inherit from my dad, but sadly didn’t.
she was dressed in a strapless, red chiffon, floor-length evening gown that sparkled in the sunshine. she was divine.
as I gazed upon her beauty, my unruly childhood curls were restrained in plaits. I hadn’t even progressed to my training bra and the most glamorous dress I owned was one made by my mum on my grandma’s old foot- pedalled singer sewing machine.
It reached modestly to the knee, white with pink dots and a huge fuchsia ribbon.
But I didn’t long for my doll’s body, I dreamed of the day I’d be able to wear her grown-up frocks.
I never once envied those huge breasts. as a tomboy I thought they’d get in the way when playing football or climbing trees.
as for enticing me into a world of dangerous fantasy, I much preferred playing with my brother’s action Man. Yet that didn’t make me hanker for a man’s muscles or end up with me wanting to kill people with his rifles.
Barbie’s figure had not one polka dot’s influence on my burgeoning preteenager’s body image, something we didn’t even know about back then in the sixties.
I matured into a normal- shaped, normal-weight woman not obsessed with my body image.
and if the Barbie syndrome is truly damaging girls and turning them into skinny minnies, why are almost half of our teenagers either overweight or obese by the time they reach puberty?
While laughing at my morphed middle-aged Barbie, I did wince at my today picture. Where the hell did my waist go? I blame industrial quantities of rose in lockdown!