We all know Barbie. Blonde and leggy with those bright blue eyes and dazzling smile. Some of my best memories as a kid are of playing with my Barbie doll. I would steal my brother’s GI Joe so that Barbie could get married, and I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as when I put ‘Dentist Barbie’ in the bath with me, after which she could no longer make the gargling noises.
But the sad and scary realisation is that if Barbie was a real woman she would fit the weight criteria of an anorexic.
Which is why graphic design student Nikolay Lamm has spent the last two months researching and constructing a new ‘real’ Barbie doll based on the measurements of an average nineteen-year-old woman in America. “I want to show that average is beautiful,” Lamm told Business Insider.
When photographed next to the original Barbie doll, the difference between the two dolls is quite confronting. It really highlights the unrealistic body image that Barbie promotes opposed to the naturally beautiful figure of Lamm’s realistic Barbie doll.
Lamm says that, “people argue that a toy can’t do any harm. However, if we criticise skinny models, we should at least be open to the possibility that Barbie may negatively influence young girls as well.”
Mattel (the creators of Barbie) are yet to create their own realistic Barbie doll and after 50 years of success with the original Barbie it’s hard to say whether they ever will.
Image source: www.lostateminor.com
What do you think of Lamm’s ‘real’ Barbie doll? Do you think the original Barbie promotes an unrealistic body image? Would you want Mattel to create a more realistic Barbie doll?
