Speaking of body type/acceptance, anyone read the Time article about the new shapes of Barbie?

Laurie

I just read the article in Time Magazine about Mattel's new Barbies - all shapes including curvy, petite and tall plus dozens more skin and hair tones and facial characteristics. One of the most interesting parts of the article talked about a focus group of 6-8 year old girls. When observed playing together without adults in the room they called the curvy Barbie "fat". When the adults were present they used more politically correct terms, and one little girl actually spelled the word "f-a-t" instead of saying it. "I don't want to hurt her feelings," she says, a little desperately."

They're finding that the children, while becoming more politically correct, are not openly embracing the dolls that look more like them, and their Moms. Our conditioning is apparently still so strong that the ideal body, and the ideal Barbie, is tall, thin and blond.

Kudos to Mattel. It will be interesting to see how this works out.

8 years ago

Body Type

9 replies

Latest reply was from broadearthqueen

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

FASCINATING. Say hi to your boys for me, Laurie.

8 years ago

Helena

Veteran

Just to be a bit contrary, sometimes i think that, to many kids, the word fat is just a descriptor, like tall or brunette ... Then we adulys scold or correct them and they take from that there is something wrong with that body type, since describing it is apparently insulting ... It's tricky not to project things onto our kids, even with the best of intentions ...

8 years ago

Echo

Veteran

I work with young children, and I tend to agree with torontogirl. "Fat" is often a simple descriptor for young people, not said with ill intent. It isn't until they hear it used in a derogatory manner that they understand that it can be insulting. Some children learn this very, very early, and usually from their own mothers, who call themselves that in front of the mirror, while others still don't mean it in a negative way in 2nd grade.

Regardless, I think the perception of overweight might come from the comparison between the dolls for the children. In other words, off white often looks white until it is held next to something that is stark white, and navy can often pass as black until it is held next to a true black. A new doll might look "normal" until it is held next to a traditional Barbie. So I wonder if girls who grew up with these dolls and not the traditional Barbie would find the older doll as ridiculous as her actual proportions are.

Either way, I don't find myself heavily invested in this. Neither I nor my DD was ever interested in dolls. I liked action toys and played in mud puddles with a series of toys called "Adventure People". My DD has always preferred building/engineering toys when she was little, although she does like crafts as much as the next girl.

8 years ago

Anonymous

My 4 DDs didn't like Barbies, even though my MIL did & kept buying them as Christmas gifts. They liked the American Girl dolls a lot more.

Kids use the terms "fat" and "old" for anyone who isn't skinny and as young as they are. Take it with a grain of salt.

8 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

My mom told me about them. I loved Barbie and don't think I'd like the new Barbies. Realistic dolls creep me out.

On the other hand, I do think there's something to conditioning. It's hard to see what you don't know. There are studies, right, that people don't do very well at identifying individuals from groups that are foreign to them. All the foreigners look the same. So maybe it's a good thing just to have the different Barbies out there.

As a side note: Haha, that's so true about kids and 'fat' and 'old.' True up until at least age 26! Lol. Altho I will say I feel children are pretty atavistic. They operate strongly on instinct. No one has to tell them to pick on *that kid* on the playground. Lord, there was an incident around here where a lady who'd been picked on came to talk to some kids about the evils of bullying... They bullied her out of the gym! And she was an adult! My mom bemoans how she tried to get me to break out of girl mode when I was little and failed. Couldn't get me to play with hot wheels or wear pants. Yes, the more I think about it, the more I think exposure like these Barbies is good for kids...

8 years ago

Ginger

Veteran

Wise words, TG; I agree. The conclusion that "conditioning is so strong" based only on this is pretty tenuous. "Curvy" is not going to be in a small child's vocabulary, especially not to describe a body. And children learn and are taught opposites. "Fat" is the opposite of "thin."

Rachy, that's a funny story about you and your mother! My mother didn't really try either way, but even with three brothers I was very girly. Loved wearing dresses and skirts as much as I could get away with. I didn't play with dolls so much as I played with their clothes.

8 years ago

BlondeAmbition

Active Member

Body acceptance begins within us. Say something kind to your body every day, especially the parts you think are flawed.

But I can't understand how viciously women speak of eachother. Every actress is scrutinized for anything she wears, her skin, her weight, her hair, her shoes, everything! That gets passed on very quickly to our young girls.

8 years ago

Beth

Veteran

I would agree that young children often see terms like fat or old as a simple comparative descriptor rather than a pejorative term. Funny story: I was working with an 8 year old this week who was doing everything he could to avoid doing what I was asking of him. At one point, he peered at me through his fingers, and said, "If I look at you like this, you look really young." LOL Another child recently told me his aunt was 35..."no, I think she's 85...maybe?" 35, 85...it's all old when you can still count your age in single digits.

8 years ago

broadearthqueen

Active Member

I think that as others said, it's just a word to them. But kids are smart and they see that particular word hurts mom's, and by association, Barbie's feelings. So they try not to say it. They still played with the doll so that gives me hope. I'm not worried about the kids' reaction but the adults'.

Go on any body-positive page that displays a woman with any dimensions of curves between we’ll say the petite adorableness of Heidi Klum and the glory that is Tess Holliday and dares to use the term Plus size, and there it is. Usually it will appear more than once and have an impossible seeming number of likes on each. “She’s not Plus-size.” The tone is often more venomous and downright scathing than that, but that is the point of each. As though the very idea of this woman, who the rest of the industry wouldn’t look at twice before Tess smacked them upside the head and demanded the attention she deserved, being called plus size was offensive. I'm sure the commenters mean well, as in she's average sized. But the way they say it can be downright mean. I think that's a big part of where kids learn that implying someone isn't thin is offensive and by extension being anything other than a certain size is wrong. Here's hoping that new Barbie will help.

8 years ago

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