Bailee Walker

Professor Adam Padgett

English 102
5 April 2016
Barbies affect on childhood development
Barbie dolls are a predominate childhood toy. An article by Elise Abramson says, In
1998, on average, girls in the U.S. owned eight of these dolls and approximately two were
purchased every second somewhere in the world. It is not hard to find statics on how many
children, generally young girls, play with Barbie dolls. The article by Ive dt. Al says Barbie is
the best-selling fashion doll in every major global market. Many have attempted to show a
correlation between the use of these play things and childhood development, mostly in relation to
self image. While no substantial experiment has shown a tight correlation between these two
things, loose ties have been made and many people have used personal experience to explain
why there is some value to this concept. It is important to note that most of the material available
and all of the material referenced in this paper do not inquire into the effect these toys may have
on young boys development. Though there has yet to be an effective experiment, the correlation
is quite easy to see. If young kids are made to think that they can only play with toys that are
relevant to them, then it will have psychological effects on the children later in life.
There are many different aspects of psychological development that have been brought
up in the discussion of Barbie dolls. The primary concern of nearly all information regarding this
topic is the effect on young girls body image. Barbies body has been shown to be unrealistic.
(Abransom, 2009: p.7) Research used in the article by Abransom found, that in order for this
average, healthy adult woman to attain Barbie-like proportions, she would have to increase

twenty-four inches in height, decrease six inches in the waist, and gain five inches in the chest,
which is not humanly possible. This data shows that strictly focusing on Barbies proportions,
she sets unrealistic expectations in the minds of those that interact with her. While it is clear that
the creator of the Barbie franchise, Ruth Handler, did not intend for Barbie dolls to be
detrimental for mental health, the doll franchise has done something a bit different. The creator
struggled herself with self-image, and she intended for Barbie dolls to help her and other young
girls. Her own self-esteem hinged on being a successful business woman and Barbie is simply
how she got to the top. (Albers, 2009) In fact many people who think that Barbie dolls do not
have a negative effect on self image site similar claims. Those who are opposed to seeing the
correlation between negative self-image and the use of Barbie dolls will argue that because
Barbie is shown in a vast array of professions, she helps encourage young girls to pursue any
professional goal they have, not just generally accepted fields for women. While Barbie is shown
in many fields, most of the toys still promote stereotypes heavily. For example, the dentist
Barbie doll set shows Barbie wearing unrealistic garbs for dentistry that are clearly geared
towards looking fashionable. So despite the fact that Barbie is shown in many professional fields
and was intended to improve self-image, the franchise still heavily promotes gender stereotypes.
With Barbie dolls being so prevalent, it is clear why they are the toy that receives so
much critique. A study by Suzanne Ive, Emma Halliwell, and Helga Dittmar compared Barbie
dolls to another doll, Emme dolls, in an attempt to show correlation between the dolls and selfimage. For this experiment a group of girls between ages 5 and 8 were read a story about
shopping for a dress and getting ready for a party. In each age group, about one third of the girls
were given images that correlated to the story with Barbie, one third of the girls were given
images that correlated to the story with Emme, and one third were given control images. They

were then given a questionnaire that they were insured was not a test so as to encourage honest
answers. The results showed two main conclusions: the younger girls had more negative effects
than the older girls, and the Barbie dolls had more negative effects than the Emme dolls or
control images. This shows two important details in regards to this paper. Firstly, Barbie dolls did
have negative effects in this experiment. Secondly, the body image ideas that we establish begin
at a young age and exposure is less detrimental after these ideas have been established. This
experiment implies that Barbie dolls may be an acceptable play toy for older girls, but younger
girls should not be allowed to play with them.
Mattell has recently released a updated Barbie. These new Barbie dolls have little
scientific analysis, but have been mostly well received in theory. Most of the information that
evaluates these new dolls is from entertainment sources as well as personal accounts. Being as
this issue is one that is heavily influenced by the public, these sources should not be ignored.
Victoria Massie, a writer for Vox, wrote an article that noted the obvious gap in representation in
the previous line of Barbie dolls and examined how the new Barbie dolls would attempt to close
that gap. Prior to the update, Barbie dolls represented few races, and one body type (which as
was previously discussed was unrealistic). The new Barbie dolls help close this gap by adding
more accurate skin tones, more accurate body shapes, as well as a variety of other features such
as hair. While the traditional Barbie is still available, these new Barbie dolls look to improve
representation. This article outlines many of those updates and advertises that Mattel has added
33 new looks. The author clearly saw the previous franchise as restricting and is hopeful that the
new Barbie dolls will help alleviate some of these restrictions. While the new line does not seem
to do much for gender stereotypes, the body-image issue seem to be one of the prime focuses of
the release.

Of course public opinions can be found for many sides of this seemingly two sided
argument, but one of the opposing views illustrated in an article by Melanie Notkin of the New
York Post is that the new Barbie dolls will squash the imagination of children. Notkin claims
that the perceived problems with Barbie dolls only helped make them a better play thing. She
says, Im a traditionalist who never felt Barbie was supposed to represent me: Barbie
represented whomever I wanted her to be. Notkin, and others who subscribe to this school of
thought, are not invalid. It is quite possible that some children will not be negatively effected by
Barbie dolls, however, some children will be and it appears risky in choosing toys for childhood
development. This article well highlights why it is difficult to draw strong ties between Barbie
dolls and their effect on psychological development because no child will respond the same way
as another, there are too many other factors in development. However, it is clear that age
influences the development of the psyche especially in relation to body-image.
Babrie dolls clearly have the ability to play a big role in childhood development
particularly at a young age. Therefore, it is important to make informed purchases and support
the continuing efforts to expand the image of the Barbie franchise.

Works Cited
Abramson, Elise. "Barbie Brains: The Effect of Barbie Dolls on Girls' Perception of Male and
Female Jobs." Http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu. Oregon State University University
Honors College, 21 May 2009. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
<http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/12188/ThesisAbramsonx.p
df>.
Albers, Susan, Psy.D. "A Barbie World." Psychology Today. Psychology Today, 3 Dec. 2009.
Web. 01 Mar. 2016. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/comfortcravings/200912/barbie-world>.
Choi, Hanna. "Roundup: Here's What People Are Saying About Barbie's Diversity Makeover."
NPR. NPR, 5 Feb. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/02/05/465317939/roundup-heres-whatpeople-are-saying-about-barbies-diversity-makeover>.
Ive, Suzanne; Halliwell,Emma; and Dittmar, Helga. "Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin?
The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8Year-Old Girls." Developmental Psychology. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
<http://willettsurvey.org/TMSTN/Gender/DoesBarbieMakeGirlsWantToBeThin.pdf>.
Massie, Victoria M. "With 33 New Looks, Barbie Is Finally Embracing Different Standards of
Beauty." Vox. Vox, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.vox.com/2016/1/29/10871044/new-barbie-dolls>.
Notkin, Melanie. "The New Realistic Barbies Squash Kids Imaginations." New York Post. New
York Post, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 01 Mar. 2016. <http://nypost.com/2016/01/29/the-newrealistic-barbies-squash-kids-imaginations/>.