“Barbie” I guess almost everyone knows it (oops, her) very well. Born and Raised in Wisconsin, Barbie Roberts has a long and well-nourished blonde hair with a size zero pink miniskirts and of course, she is white and from affluent family. Even though she is a doll, someone wants to be her – a human Barbie. This is how the little doll has a considerable impacts on society, especially on girls’ expectations and self-esteem and also earns some controversial reputations – distorted figure and mainstreaming of unhealthy but perfect (?) beauty. But what if another choices of dolls are created with an average standard of beauty that majority of girls can meet.
According to The 'average' doll v Barbie (2014), contrary to distorted and wildly exaggerated dimensions of a Barbie, Lammily is created with accurately typical standard of actual human body proportion and also wear less make up and reasonable outfits. However, Barbie spokesman defended that Barbie's proportion are designed not to realistic, but easy to play.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, my question is who is that beholder? Personally, I believe that society is the beholder because what is beauty and how to be beautiful depend on social context (in academic terms, it calls 'paradigm shift'). Beauty, therefore, is changeable not fixed meaning. To illustrate, once, the most desirable woman was a woman with cherubic body which mean that she had a perfect body condition of giving birth. After that, this expectation was slightly shifted to a well-mannered and sacrificed woman in corset dress in Victorian era. Finally, in the globalization and so on era, the standard of beauty has changed drastically, to be a attractive woman is to be thin (I mean very thin at size zero or below that) and become more sex object, frankly speaking, you have to look like a Barbie or be a Victoria Secret model to archive popularity.
As a doll, Barbie always has extremely effects in terms of psychological impact on children at a very young age. Children's perception and expectation are conformed and shaped during childhood. Unconsciously, playing with a Barbie doll, children tend to develop their self through the comparison with Barbie's appearance - very thin figure - and leads to their future expectation of themselves. Moreover, some people in older age still play or collect barbies and continue this kind of expectation.
Luckily, one of a choice has already been created by the artist who sick of the thin ideal but prefer average beauty. Average is beautiful. "Lammily" or normal Barbie with the average standard of beautiful which I reiterate that we can meet this standard was funded by people who join this campaign not by a big name company. It really impressed me because the battle of Barbies and Lammily implies the interaction between norms of different side of beauty. In our pressing society, things are changeable. Hopefully, this kind of dialogue will expand in other areas and fully establish in our society. Finally, do not underestimate the power and influences of little toys both Barbie and Lammily.
The 'average' doll v Barbie. (2014, March 6). The BBC News Magazine Monitor. Retrieved March 8, 2014 from http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-26465106
Winterman, D. (2009, March 6). What would a real life Barbie look like?. The BBC News Magazine. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7920962.stm
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, my question is who is that beholder? Personally, I believe that society is the beholder because what is beauty and how to be beautiful depend on social context (in academic terms, it calls 'paradigm shift'). Beauty, therefore, is changeable not fixed meaning. To illustrate, once, the most desirable woman was a woman with cherubic body which mean that she had a perfect body condition of giving birth. After that, this expectation was slightly shifted to a well-mannered and sacrificed woman in corset dress in Victorian era. Finally, in the globalization and so on era, the standard of beauty has changed drastically, to be a attractive woman is to be thin (I mean very thin at size zero or below that) and become more sex object, frankly speaking, you have to look like a Barbie or be a Victoria Secret model to archive popularity.
As a doll, Barbie always has extremely effects in terms of psychological impact on children at a very young age. Children's perception and expectation are conformed and shaped during childhood. Unconsciously, playing with a Barbie doll, children tend to develop their self through the comparison with Barbie's appearance - very thin figure - and leads to their future expectation of themselves. Moreover, some people in older age still play or collect barbies and continue this kind of expectation.
But what is the problem? It sounds possible for one to dream, doesn't it? Yes everyone can dream, but dreaming to be Barbie seems unhealthy because of her exaggerated dimensions of body proportion. According to What would a real life Barbie look like? (2009), the author mentioned that it is possible for a woman having Barbie's shape but extremely rare and unhealthy - lack of body fat required for a woman to menstruate (para 5). Here is the problem. To archived the 'thin idea', some girls are terribly suffered from eating disorder such as anorexia and bulimia. Whilst girls who can not fulfill their expectations, they become frustrated and lose their self-esteem, lose confident in their healthy body.
Thanks to fashion industry for blinding the whole society, convincing us, and reproducing the discourse - thin is perfect, Barbie is perfect, size zero is absolutely perfect. For example, some fashion companies and retails decide to sell their clothes only in size zero (XXS) and also mention that those who do not fit the size do not suit to their products. I really can't believe this happened. What is the exactly number of people who work in fashion industry and have such a very convincing power to order society - to wear or not and how to wear it appropriately. Personally, I believe that the oligarchy of fashion industry is the key beholder. However, I might say that, we do have a choice in terms of consumer's power, it seems to be a limited choices, especially in the world surrounding with marketing propaganda.
Luckily, one of a choice has already been created by the artist who sick of the thin ideal but prefer average beauty. Average is beautiful. "Lammily" or normal Barbie with the average standard of beautiful which I reiterate that we can meet this standard was funded by people who join this campaign not by a big name company. It really impressed me because the battle of Barbies and Lammily implies the interaction between norms of different side of beauty. In our pressing society, things are changeable. Hopefully, this kind of dialogue will expand in other areas and fully establish in our society. Finally, do not underestimate the power and influences of little toys both Barbie and Lammily.
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| Left: Barbie with her exaggerated proportion Right: Barbie with typical human body proportion |
Reference
Winterman, D. (2009, March 6). What would a real life Barbie look like?. The BBC News Magazine. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7920962.stm
Pa-naeng's post, full of terms such as mainstreaming, paradigm shift and discourse, clearly reveals her passion for sociology. Fortunately, I think that her own critical analysis offers both a way to escape the tyranny of fashion dictates and also undermines the once (still?) popular notion that all value judgements are cultural constructs, with no more substantive reality that can be objectively discovered.
ReplyDeleteIs it true that "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"? Or is there something more substantial present when we, or any observer, independent of culture, beholds, (or does not behold?) beauty?
Thank you Pa-naeng for giving us some deep questions to ponder and respond to over our morning coffees, or afternoon snacks, or relaxing post-dinner internet browsing.
You wrote this one seriously and very convincing. I agree with you that this norm is socially constructed from related actors. This reminds me to think about a class when I studied in the University, something which can conclude your post like "Norm is the king of all" (I guess this word was from Herodotus, the historian who compare the difference of funeral culture between Greeks and Persians.)
ReplyDeleteWhat about music? There is some rhythm that can makes us sad, feel hopeful, get some inspiration, etc. even if it is not our language or only the sound of music instrument (piano, zheng, xylophone, etc.). Is there something "beautiful" in itself and does not necessary to link with social factor?