Many parents have heard that Barbies promote an unrealistic beauty standard. In fact, Barbies are so thin that if a real woman had these proportions, she would only have room in her waist for half of a liver and a few inches of intestines! But is there really any harm in letting your child play with Barbies?
Research shows that simply seeing pictures of Barbies has a negative impact on body image. In one study, 5- to 8-year-old girls were exposed to pictures of Barbie dolls, then pictures of objects unrelated to dolls or people (Dittmar, Halliwell, & Ive, 2006). The girls showed decreased body esteem and an increased desire for thinness after seeing pictures of the Barbies than after seeing the neutral objects or the Emme dolls. The effect was actually greater in younger girls (5.5 to 7.5 years) than older girls (7.5 to 8.5 years), suggesting that younger children may be more susceptible to these influences because they have not yet internalized their own views of body image and thinness.
Another study found that when girls aged 5 to 9 years played with an ultra-thin doll, they were more likely to indicate that a thinner body size is ideal (Boothroyd, Tovee, & Evans, 2021). Playing with a more realistic doll after playing with an ultra-thin doll did not impact their ideal body size, suggesting that children may have already internalized the message.
Mattel recently started a new line of Barbie dolls with a “curvy” doll. However, a recent study found that girls 3 to 10 years old indicated that the “curvy” doll was the doll that they least wanted to play with (when compared to “original,” “tall,” and “petite” dolls; Harriger, Schaefer, Thompson & Cao, 2019). They also showed more negative attitudes towards the “curvy” doll. This was particularly true for girls who were more unhappy with their own bodies. This research suggests that, even if you provide your daughter with more realistic dolls, she may not want to play with them due to the strong messaging in our society that thin bodies are ideal.
So how can you counter this messaging as a parent?
1) Provide your child with only realistic dolls, if possible. If your child has a Barbie or ultra-thin doll or encounters one, explain that this doll is not an accurate representation of a woman’s body.
2) Focus on what your child’s body and their dolls’ bodies can do rather than how they look.
3) Be a positive role model for body image. Speak positively about your own body.
4) Model healthy eating habits and talking about food as fuel for your body.
5) Value and comment on others for what they do rather than how they look.
