BEING THIN MEANS BEING BEAUTIFUL
To understand whether the Barbie dolls affect children's perception of ideal body size, body image, body esteem and body dissatisfaction the Dittmar and her colleges (2006) conducted a study on 162 girls that change ages from 5 to 8 years. They have shown Barbie Doll, Emme dolls, and natural pictures; no dolls (Emme dolls aim to create dolls closer to the real size of the girls including large sizes like body affirmation to promote healthy body image.) They have created storybooks that include pictures of those dolls and read the stories accordingly to get children's attention on the books.
To understand the body esteem between those children they have asked some questions like:
“I’m pretty happy about the way I look”
“Children my own age like my looks”), “I really like what I weigh
Most people have a nicer body than I do
Other people make fun of the way I look
To give their response they circled the smiley faces.
** To body shape dissatisfaction results they have used the responses of the children for these questions. If a child circles "no" in common it means she wants to be a thinner person right now and in the future as an adult. If a child gives positive responses (yes) it means that she reconciled with her own body and she thinks being like a Barbie is unhealthy and no need to be like her.
First one means: no ( 1 point)
Second one means : in between (two points)
Third one means: Yes (3 points)
Second one means : in between (two points)
Third one means: Yes (3 points)
EMME DOLLS
FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH
When children are first exposed to Barbie girl's pictures they have circled negative scores like they are not happy with their actual body sizes and report that they want to be thinner like a Barbie. However, after they have exposure to Emma or no dolls picture they did not respond to the questions in the negative ways, they were happy with their actual body size and did not affect their body satisfaction while the Barbie pictures decrease children's body satisfaction. According to research, having body dissatisfaction can cause eating disorders and cause especially adolescents to be more depressed and it can harm children's body image and perception of ideal body size.
Reference for this research
Dittmar, H.& Halliwal. E., Ive. S.(2006) Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8-Year-Old Girls in Developmental Psychology 42(2):283-92 ·
DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.283
Reference for this research
Dittmar, H.& Halliwal. E., Ive. S.(2006) Does Barbie Make Girls Want to Be Thin? The Effect of Experimental Exposure to Images of Dolls on the Body Image of 5- to 8-Year-Old Girls in Developmental Psychology 42(2):283-92 ·
DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.283
cASE STUDY OF BARBIE DOLL SYNDROME
This case study is conducted by Gruber et al (2017) and about a woman who has been trying to look like a Barbie doll -being thinner- since her childhood and she is 37 years old right now, and that's why she has an eating disorder. In addition to eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa disease, self-embarrassment, low self-confidence, depression, and changes in body image were detected. Thus, from both the Dittmar and her colleges' and Gruber and his colleges' research we can understand that being beautiful and thin is a stereotype for girls and it means being beautiful. When children see the pictures of a thin Barbie figures their body esteem and body satisfaction decrease and the tendency of being thinner increases especially between the younger girls. In addition, to be a thinner person as they have seen from the Barbie figures their diets and eating habits change and become more depressive and even feel shame for their bodies. Barbie can have positive effects on teaching the body parts and body awareness but other than this, it may damage children's body perception and cause a desire for a inaccessible body form.
Reference for the case study
Gruber, M., Jahn, R., Stolba, K. et al. „Das Barbie Syndrom“. Ein Fallbericht über die Körperdysmorphe Störung (Barbie Doll Syndrome’. A case report of body dysmorphic disorder). Neuropsychiatr 32, 44–49 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40211-017-0241-
Reference for the case study
Gruber, M., Jahn, R., Stolba, K. et al. „Das Barbie Syndrom“. Ein Fallbericht über die Körperdysmorphe Störung (Barbie Doll Syndrome’. A case report of body dysmorphic disorder). Neuropsychiatr 32, 44–49 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40211-017-0241-