When I was in grade school, some of my favorite toys were undoubtedly Polly Pocket dolls and her endless stream of accessories that were sold to give young girls hours of fun. Yes, I was also the proud owner of several Barbie and Bratz dolls. Sure, Polly was much smaller in scale than Barbie, and the Bratz dolls had bigger heads, but one common factor always seemed to be present among these plastic beauties: their body types.
When I was growing up, all of my friends would constantly gush over Barbie’s long legs and skinny waist in hopes that when they grew into young women, their legs and waists would match hers. As most of us realized sooner or later, our bodies would never mimic Barbie’s the way we wished they would. Personally, my years of dedication to volleyball never allowed my legs to be anything but, well, muscular shall we say. They helped me jump higher, shuffle faster and dive further for the ball. But they weren’t stick-thin like Barbie’s legs. They weren’t the legs I grew up thinking I would eventually have.
Though as a young girl I was unaware of the ideas that were being burned into my head, after an entire childhood of Polly Pocket dolls and Barbie dolls, I realized I had subconsciously formed these expectations of how my body would (and more importantly, should) be shaped when I got to high school. We all know Barbie’s perfect body shape and size is unattainable for the majority of us. In reality, her proportions and measurements would translate into a woman unable to lift her head, a waist so tiny it could only accommodate half a liver and feet that are a child’s size three — leaving her incapable of walking. Yet, we can’t help but crave her so-called perfection.
Luckily, one man is starting to change mainstream Barbie’s look. Nickolay Lamm, a graphic designer by trade, has created a new line of dolls that allow for more than the stereotypical Barbie body type to be expressed in the toy market. These dolls embody the average measurements of a 19-year-old woman, including shorter, fuller legs to stick-on features such as freckles, scars or acne. These more realistic features result in young girls feeling more connected to their dolls. For example, if the child has a scar on her stomach from when she had her appendix removed, the doll can have the scar as well.
Furthermore, the wider range of body-type options as well as the additional stick-on features help prevent young girls from forming unrealistic expectations of how women’s bodies should look. The diversity encourages children to not only accept the reality that Barbie-bodies are rare in real life, but they also learn to embrace these differences as inevitable truths of life. Embracing a variety of body types means being comfortable with bodies that aren’t crazy thin and realistically unproportional.
The minds of our precious youth must not be soured with unattainable expectations for themselves. These new Barbie dolls empower all shapes of youth, allowing for children to grow in confidence in not only their bodies, but also themselves. These perfectly imperfect new dolls are a wonderful start to a shift in the way this society markets beauty, but a long road still awaits — a change in the presentation of children’s toys alone is not enough to break our currently conforming minds.
Logically, I know that a body type like the original Barbie is unattainable and unrealistic. Yet like many others, my subconscious craves those long legs and almost-nonexistent waist. In fact, I’ve had to consciously work toward changing my perception of beauty. Slowly but relentlessly, I’m working to find value in myself and my own unique body type. I’m working to help other girls see the beauty in themselves. I’m also working to empower not only young girls, but society in general to embrace all of who they are as individuals, and encourage active efforts toward breaking more social barriers and expectations.
As I mentioned, these dolls can potentially serve as a catalyst for change, but we need more. We need magazines to stop criticizing post-pregnancy stress marks. We must refuse to buy into unreliable speculation into the lives of others, many of whom we’ve never even met. We must stop watching music videos that objectify women. Those examples are only a small portion of the seemingly endless, ridiculous expectations that today’s society promotes and encourages. Change is not a hopeless cause, however. Today we can shatter our fantasized norms, and replace them with realistic ideas and goals. Tomorrow, a month from today or several years down the road, these dreams of every child finding self-worth and comfort will be the new norm if we are all willing to put in a little bit of effort.
Payden White (pwhite4
