Barbie Has A New Body(heavier)

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I like it. More human shape and less impossible neck, etc.

ICXC NIKA
 
Interesting. I make American Girl doll clothes to sell, and have made some Barbie ones in the past. Had been thinking about doing some again along with the AG clothes. Barbie clothes require a little more manual dexterity to make but aren’t that hard for me. One of the things that I’ve been tracking as I decide whether to do them is that the manufacturers do keep changing the figure, so I guess if I do I’ll have to alter some patterns! 😛

I had never had any issues of my own with Barbie’s figure, apart from being a little embarrassed by it when I got my first doll as a preschooler. I played out “family stories” with my Barbie, Ken, Skipper, etc. - that was what I enjoyed the most along with the clothes. In fact, my first sewing project was a Barbie dress. 🙂 My body self-esteem issues came from comparing myself to other real life girls who were slender and athletic, which I was not.

Anyway, vive la difference, in this case - I’ll have to make a trip to a toy department to see these new dolls, and I may end up buying a couple to serve as sewing mannequins. 😉
 
They come in different sizes. Different colors.

Re-read the article. Barbie comes in three sizes.
 
I remember a study was done awhile back that if Barbie as made life size proportionally then she would have to be immediately hospitalized due to her low weight and that her ankles would shatter due to their small size, she would also be basically unable to walk due to the unproportional size of her chest…so making her more normal looking is probably good.
 
parenting.com/news-break/theres-now-barbie-every-body

The New Barbie looks like a 40 year old body to me. It’s very rounded and heavier.

I like the old Barbie’s with her young slim look. What do you think?
I think that may be just the shock of change. Actually, Barbie wasn’t ever precisely slender, she was just mis-proportioned. Absurdly small waist, and ridiculously long and skinny legs, yes, but also disproportionately large chest and hips. And big head.

Here is some more information: rehabs.com/explore/dying-to-be-barbie/#.VrALACRijkw

You can click to view a graphic, which is informative.

Also, there is this thing here: newsmax.com/TheWire/real-life-barbie-body-measurement/2013/07/02/id/513006/ which compares Barbie’s measurements to an average 19-year-old. If you think that old-style Barbie looks like an average young woman, you have spent too much time looking at models in magazines and not enough time looking around.

As for whether it can be harmful, this story has a link to a PDF that suggests it can: cnn.com/2016/01/28/living/barbie-new-body-feat/index.html

I wasn’t ever traumatized by having Barbies, but I was a bit of a tomboy at that age, so I didn’t care. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the old-style Barbies if people want them, but I certainly don’t think there’s anything wrong with being able to choose something a bit less deformed.

–Jen
 
I like the old “skinny” Barbie best.🙂 What’s wrong with being thin? Really.
 
I like the old “skinny” Barbie best.🙂 What’s wrong with being thin? Really.
Well, according to some sources, in the case of Barbie, what’s wrong is that she would only be able to have about 10 ft of intestine and half a liver. 🙂

–Jen
 
Are they going to market scrawny GI Joe, emaciated Hulk, or chunky Thor action figures?
 
Well, according to some sources, in the case of Barbie, what’s wrong is that she would only be able to have about 10 ft of intestine and half a liver. 🙂

–Jen
🙂 They say things like that just to be comical. They have to realize…she’s just a doll. I think the whole “body image” thing is ridiculous. Girls are jealous of a plastic doll? Being overweight isn’t healthy either. They always pick at skinniness. Well, I like skinniness. And if you want to be skinny like Barbie, then these girls should do a little healthy dieting and exercise. Nothing wrong with that.
 
They come in different sizes. Different colors.

Re-read the article. Barbie comes in three sizes.
3 more sizes.

Original sized Barbie.

Tall Barbie

Petite Barbie

And curvy Barbie.

I, back in the early seventies had a Skipper doll. Skipper was Barbie’s sister or cousin. If you turned her arm a certain way, she would get taller.
 
Are they going to market scrawny GI Joe, emaciated Hulk, or chunky Thor action figures?
LOL, Never, actually the action figures made for boys, have been beefed up to look like they are on steroids!

I remember reading an interview with Mark Hamil from star wars, comparing the 80s action figures to modern ones, he was amazed, he said “Geez, they injected me with steroids”! and its true, all the 70s and 80s action figures were normal sized, nowadays, virtually ANY action figure looks like a body builder!

So I guess when it comes to boys they want us to be playing with unrealistic toys, but with girl toys, they want them realistic…??
 
They didn’t change the shape of Barbie because skinny is bad. It’s because the shape of Barbie was unrealistic and unobtainable without gratuitous plastic surgery. It’s not that people are jealous of the dolls. It’st hat it creates an image of what a body is supposed to look like that cannot be met. Which contributes to self-esteem issues and eating disorders, etc.

I mean, just look at the title of this thread. “A New Body(heavier)” Not (realistic) or (sensible) or (like how people actually look). But (heavier). None of the new Barbie shapes are HEAVY.
 
They didn’t change the shape of Barbie because skinny is bad. It’s because the shape of Barbie was unrealistic and unobtainable without gratuitous plastic surgery. It’s not that people are jealous of the dolls. It’st hat it creates an image of what a body is supposed to look like that cannot be met. Which contributes to self-esteem issues and eating disorders, etc.
Barbie’s body was never meant to be obtainable. It was meant to be pleasant to look at, pretty to look at. Nobody wants a fat, ugly doll or even a normal doll, they want pretty. That some child or teen would look at a Barbie doll and think they have to look like her, points to bigger problems in our society.

This is the same argument as the road runner/coyote cartoons causing violence, or because my family wasn’t like Father Knows Best, you commit suicide.

Ahhh, first world problems…:rolleyes:
 
Are they going to market scrawny GI Joe, emaciated Hulk, or chunky Thor action figures?
Not sure about them, but I hear the new Ken doll has a pot belly, thinning hair, and erectile dysfunction, so he looks more like everyones daddy.

And then there is Kourageous Ken, who they turn into Barbie…:D;)
 
Interesting. I make American Girl doll clothes to sell, and have made some Barbie ones in the past. Had been thinking about doing some again along with the AG clothes. Barbie clothes require a little more manual dexterity to make but aren’t that hard for me. One of the things that I’ve been tracking as I decide whether to do them is that the manufacturers do keep changing the figure, so I guess if I do I’ll have to alter some patterns! 😛

I had never had any issues of my own with Barbie’s figure, apart from being a little embarrassed by it when I got my first doll as a preschooler. I played out “family stories” with my Barbie, Ken, Skipper, etc. - that was what I enjoyed the most along with the clothes. In fact, my first sewing project was a Barbie dress. 🙂 My body self-esteem issues came from comparing myself to other real life girls who were slender and athletic, which I was not.

Anyway, vive la difference, in this case - I’ll have to make a trip to a toy department to see these new dolls, and I may end up buying a couple to serve as sewing mannequins. 😉
You are very talented if you can make Barbie dresses, I think the dimensions are so little. My mom was a seamstress, but she never made me a Barbie dress.

Another recent change in Barbie is the inclusion of different ethnicities and different hair colors. When I was little, Barbie was always blonde. My hair is brown. There was a doll called Tiffany Taylor. Her hair could change from brown to blonde by rotating the top of her head… but it never looked right.

I would have appreciated a brunette Barbie.
 
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