Barbie Has A New Body(heavier)

[3DOCTORS]

The story behind Barbie’s figure is actually kind of risque’. She was modeled after a German doll called “Bild Lilli” that was sold as a suggestive gag gift/souvenir for adults, appealing to a the same mentality that in our days sells mud flaps on trucks with sexy women profiles on them.

Lilli doll was based on a character in a naughty cartoon. Ruth Handler of Mattel had been looking for a 3D version of the paper dolls that her daughter Barbara and her friends liked to dress in various fashions. On a trip to Germany, she saw a Bild Lilli doll, decided it would fit the bill, and the rest is history.

time.com/3731483/barbie-history/

Of course the most blatant sexiness of the Barbie doll was somewhat toned down by Mattel, and she was marketed as a “Teenage Fashion Model.”

Another point that has been brought up by Barbie aficionados is that the doll’s pinched-in waist has a practicality to it. Early Barbie fashions were lovingly detailed with tiny zippers and buttons and couture-like craftsmanship; that’s why they’re appreciated by vintage collectors. But fabric, even light fabric, can look bulky when sewn into clothes on such a tiny scale. It would be like making human clothing out of tent canvas. One thing that helped these miniature fashion garments to look appealing was to reduce the waistline and hence the bulk around the midsection, so they would still look feminine and attractive on the doll.

 

[gam197]

Barbie has gone from being just a pretty slim girl to now a middle age women.

Girls when younger often are thinner. and the doll was seen as an ideal. Most girls did not fit this but they also understood that. Today we just can’t let anything alone and to make Barbie heavy, nah.

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

The story behind Barbie’s figure is actually kind of risque’. She was modeled after a German doll called “Bild Lilli” that was sold as a suggestive gag gift/souvenir for adults, appealing to a the same mentality that in our days sells mud flaps on trucks with sexy women profiles on them.

Lilli doll was based on a character in a naughty cartoon. Ruth Handler of Mattel had been looking for a 3D version of the paper dolls that her daughter Barbara and her friends liked to dress in various fashions. On a trip to Germany, she saw a Bild Lilli doll, decided it would fit the bill, and the rest is history.

time.com/3731483/barbie-history/

Of course the most blatant sexiness of the Barbie doll was somewhat toned down by Mattel, and she was marketed as a “Teenage Fashion Model.”

Yes. I’ve heard of Bild Lilli, they are collectors items. I also heard that a German brothel used them as calling cards.

My cousin is a number of years older than I am, and I inherited the Barbie with the black and white bathing suit and the severe “side eye” I didn’t keep it though.

 

[3DOCTORS]

Well, as I’ve mentioned earlier, my body issues didn’t come from comparing myself to Barbie. First of all, I’m an artsy person, and when I was a kid I would be drawn to the appearance of some dolls and think others looked freaky or downright ugly. I wonder now if that was my aesthetic sense developing, but at the time it was completely intuitive and based on gut reaction. I either really liked the way a doll looked, or thought it was okay but could use some tweaking of whatever feature I didn’t think the manufacturer got right, or I didn’t want anything to do with it.

I still browse the toy aisles on occasion, whether to buy a gift for someone’s kid or just out of curiosity. Some of the dolls I see, especially the ones marketed to toddlers/preschoolers, I can tell are based on some kind of metric as to how large the eyes should be or something to catch the kid’s attention, they are far from natural looking and many of them are ugly, IMO. The teen dolls, which are played with by elementary school kids, have to not look too slutty. As a science fiction fan I kind of like the Monster High dolls but their bodies are rather inspired by the distortion of tiny torso and huge feet like Bratz - which kind of makes me wonder if there’s a subliminal suggestion of looking up their skirts - I hope I’m not just having my mind in the gutter on this but it’s that “hooker shoes” vibe I’m picking up on . . .

Anyway, I have my little collection of dolls from my childhood and my sewing interests, and I like to see what the toy industry comes up with and whether I like it or not.

Back to my own body issues - I definitely acquired those in the context of real life - which to me makes sense, as that’s also the arena where I was judged. Of course I internalized and magnified my “flaws” probably way more than anyone else ever noticed them. Though I did get some teasing from skinny gals. I envied those girls whose legs went straight down from the sides of their slender hips and tapered to their ankles with no thigh saddlebags, knobby knees, or awkward ankles. And whose stomachs were concave. But none of this had any connection to Barbie dolls for me, ever.

 

[gam197]

I don’t think these barbies look “heavy” or “middle-aged”. They all still look young and fit.
They have slightly different shapes–taller, shorter, one has wider hips–like in real life. Very fit people have varied shapes, too.

.

This was suppose to be an ideal and most tween girls are slim. Barbies are played with by 6 - 9 year olds. They themselves are usually slim and Barbie was just a reflection of that, no more. To try to make her look middle age and she does look that way heavier, and with a wide waist just doesn’t do it.

 

[JackVk]

I don’t think these barbies look “heavy” or “middle-aged”. They all still look young and fit.
They have slightly different shapes–taller, shorter, one has wider hips–like in real life. Very fit people have varied shapes, too.

.

Did anybody here mention the Russian woman who got a whole bunch of plastic surgery to look like a real-life Barbie?

At any rate, I don’t see why this is such a bad thing. A lot of people seem to react with hostility to the idea that having some heft isn’t a bad thing. The whole “body image” meme is associated with the otherwise ridiculous social justice warriors, which I think is unmerited.

The idea that a woman is unattractive unless she’s built like someone nailed coconuts to a telephone pole is less than 100 years old. I think some weight on a woman is very attractive. Yes, it’s not healthy to be overweight, but so is being underweight.

 

[3DOCTORS]

It looks like even more than three, according to the photos…but three new ones have been recently added.
I think providing a variety of body shapes is AMAZING and so, so healthy for girls. Something like this can have a major effect on the next generation of females and their self-esteem.

Bravo Barbie!!!
.

Devil’s advocate here - again, based on my own experience. I don’t think a doll has that much power in and of itself. Peer pressure is more likely the influence, with the doll just being at best the scapegoat. I can just as easily see kids comparing the various Barbies and still being judgmental toward one another: “You have to play with FAT Barbie because YOU’RE fat” etc. The clothing, too, is another issue; it’s going to be interesting to see how they work that one out. Will there be different sizes, or will the garments be baggy and “one size fits all” (we know how that works IRL! ). That’s probably how they’ll do it, since nowadays the clothes for the play doll line are pretty cheaply made, and it would be more streamlined for the manufacturing and marketing.

Guess we won’t know till it plays out, no pun intended. I may try to cash in on the clothing thing, though!

 

[NM505StKate]

I think it is cool. I am just getting into Barbie® and seeing different body shapes is awesome. Yes Barbie® is meant to be played by a certain age group but by no means is it restricted to it. Barbie® is supposed to represent the everyday girl but was always blonde, thin, and white. Having a mix is a great step.

 

[GEddie]

Did anybody here mention the Russian woman who got a whole bunch of plastic surgery to look like a real-life Barbie?

At any rate, I don’t see why this is such a bad thing. A lot of people seem to react with hostility to the idea that having some heft isn’t a bad thing. The whole “body image” meme is associated with the otherwise ridiculous social justice warriors, which I think is unmerited.

The idea that a woman is unattractive unless she’s built like someone nailed coconuts to a telephone pole is less than 100 years old. I think some weight on a woman is very attractive. Yes, it’s not healthy to be overweight, but so is being underweight.

I believe the woman was Ukrainian, but yes, I know who you refer to.

Indeed, the beauty ideal of the 1870s was a 200# woman.

But the confusion is mind-deep for most of us. I remember being told once that “beauty is objective, and the objective standard of human beauty is the supermodel body.” Hmmmmmm…

ICXC NIKA

 

[LilyM]

I don’t think these barbies look “heavy” or “middle-aged”. They all still look young and fit.
They have slightly different shapes–taller, shorter, one has wider hips–like in real life. Very fit people have varied shapes, too.

.

Thank you! None of the new dolls is overweight by any standard.

As for the suggestion that Barbie is meant to look like a tween, puh-leeze. What tween has a grossly exaggerated hourglass figure like Barbie’s? She is very clearly meant to be an adult woman, not a young girl.

Maybe the distorted body image Barbie presents doesn’t create problems.in virls or women (mind you one can point to a disturbing number of cases of women having extreme plastic surgery with the avowed aim of looking like Barbie other than the one mentioned). But it certainly doesn’t help any.

 

[revert_jen]

Back to my own body issues - I definitely acquired those in the context of real life - which to me makes sense, as that’s also the arena where I was judged. Of course I internalized and magnified my “flaws” probably way more than anyone else ever noticed them. Though I did get some teasing from skinny gals. I envied those girls whose legs went straight down from the sides of their slender hips and tapered to their ankles with no thigh saddlebags, knobby knees, or awkward ankles. And whose stomachs were concave. But none of this had any connection to Barbie dolls for me, ever.

Just thinking about this…

Where did the standard come from that the real girls were comparing with? Partly from the culture in general, for sure, but maybe partly from shared Barbie experience?

Also, just because you didn’t compare yourself to Barbie doesn’t mean nobody does. I didn’t really have any body image issues until long after Barbie age either, but again, that doesn’t mean that my experience goes for everyone else.

–Jen

 

[revert_jen]

This was suppose to be an ideal and most tween girls are slim. Barbies are played with by 6 - 9 year olds. They themselves are usually slim and Barbie was just a reflection of that, no more. To try to make her look middle age and she does look that way heavier, and with a wide waist just doesn’t do it.

I really hope you’re not trying to say that tweens are anything like Barbie-shaped. In my experience, generally healthy tweens go a lot more straight up and down, and of course 6- to 9-year-olds even more so.

And a lot of different sources say that any real person with Barbie proportions would be anorexic. That’s not my ideal, and if it is society’s ideal, society is extremely damaged in that respect and should be fixed. If having non-anorexic Barbies is a way toward fixing it, I’m all for it.

–Jen

 

[christofirst]

The real question is, which Barbie will Ken ask to the prom?

 

[MarcoPolo]

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…??

I am skeptical that people actually think only “realistic” toys are adequate for children of either sex. I mean, is there anyone who freaks out about Flat Stanley dolls?

http://forums.catholic-questions.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=22824&d=1454467811

Can we have a comparison of what kind of internal bone structure and anatomy this kid would have to have compared to Barbie? Are kids incapable of identifying the difference between a doll and a person?

How about these dolls?
http://forums.catholic-questions.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=22826&stc=1&d=1454468053

What kind of radiation did this pair of mutants endure? Look at his forearms. Does she even have bones?

There must be something unique about how Barbie is marketed or something, but that problem isn’t solved by adding differently physiqued doll––it almost seems to confirm the notion that the doll is the benchmark to which a child should strive. Something seems wrong about the whole thing.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Many girls look at these barbies as role models
.

I think this is a problem that is not a doll’s fault. Reshaping the dolls seems only to confirm the notion that a doll is some kind of role model. That seems rather deranged to me.

 

[gam197]

I really hope you’re not trying to say that tweens are anything like Barbie-shaped. In my experience, generally healthy tweens go a lot more straight up and down, and of course 6- to 9-year-olds even more so.

And a lot of different sources say that any real person with Barbie proportions would be anorexic. That’s not my ideal, and if it is society’s ideal, society is extremely damaged in that respect and should be fixed. If having non-anorexic Barbies is a way toward fixing it, I’m all for it.

–Jen

Barbie’s sister Stacie and Skipper look thin but not ultra thin.

Girls that play with Barbie( or other dolls such as Monster High) are pretty young 6-9 and I am not saying that Barbie is a tween , The other dolls in the series are tween and they have stick kind of figure. I am just saying to young girls and tweens who may play or be involved in the Barbie doll fantasy that they themselves are usually skinny so a thin doll does not seem odd but more in line with how they see the 18 year old body.

To make Barbie with a much wider waist and heavier all over does not do it. She looks about 40. Time will tell if this new Barbie sells. I bet most young girls will gravitate to the thinner dolls. They could have just corrected it by making Barbie a tad wider and maybe most people would not even have noticed.
Just saying…

 

[Crown_of_Stars]

I still think they’re making a big deal out of nothing. Why not leave Barbie the way she was? They get too psychological about everything it seems. The thinner Barbie looks nicer. The wider ones look awful, in my opinion. Why do they want to uglify her? Who wants a wide, clunky doll that looks like she needs to exercise and cut out the junk food, when you can have the elegant, delicate doll?

 

[Sarcelle]

She would be disgusted with me since I cannot sew clothes. I can embroider and crochet but cannot make clothes. My interests lies more with the culinary and gardening arts.

Back to Barbie, my parents always said I would decapitate my dolls as I always found them creepy. I liked Barbie’s dream house though.

 

[meltzerboy]

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.

It is good because it gives girls a more normal role model of what most women look like so that they don’t strive to lose too much weight to look like the dangerously thin Barbie.

 

[GEddie]

Why shouldn’t these dolls have diverse body forms, as breathing human beings do?

Differing bodies also allow for greater creativity in clothing styles.

ICXC NIKA