The Doll Effect

A study conducted revealed a correlation between exposure of young girls to Barbie dolls and lower body esteem

The iconic Barbie doll has undergone a makeover. The erstwhile white, blond-haired and hour-glassed doll is now more varied in her physique and colour. She comes in three body shapes and seven skin tones. Her introduction to the market caused quite a stir and invited a mixed set of reactions. Some have hailed the more ‘realistic’ and ‘representative’ set of dolls as a critical re-conceptualisation of the ideals of beauty, which young girls are made to confront at a very impressionable age. Others argue that the revamped Barbie is merely part of a marketing strategy adopted to revive a failing product. To read more into this business move would be to unjustifiably lend controversy to something that is the subject of innocent childish pastime.

But feminists press beyond ‘It’s just a toy; what’s the big deal’ argument. The Barbie doll, to them, typifies an unattainable prototype of beauty, with proportions that the average, healthy woman may never realistically achieve. The chubby, freckled, five-year-old redhead may see herself as an anomaly in comparison to the ‘perfect’ Barbie doll she is given to play with. She may forever conceive herself as such, spiralling down a vicious cycle of low self-esteem and eating disorders. Is the feminist ascribing too much power to a toy? Maybe not. A study conducted in England revealed a correlation between exposure of young girls to Barbie dolls and lower body esteem. Children are affected by the images around them. The construction of standards of beauty, typified in a toy, and reinforced through media, social interaction and cultural norms can have a lasting impact on a young girl, which may manifest itself as body image dissatisfaction.

The new line of Barbie dolls is an acknowledgement of the power of images and the need to redefine the stereotypical conception of beauty that bombards women, of all ages, everyday. The significance of the ‘new Barbie’ then cannot be ignored. The Barbie-effect may only be at play amidst a small proportion of middle to upper income households in Pakistan. But beauty myths in general are propounded with vengeance in our society. The beautiful urban Pakistani woman is fair-skinned, lean and tall, groomed to perfection with make-up and expensive accessories. Her wit, charm, intellect and accomplishments are often immaterial or secondary to her appearance. She is judged and valued for her physical form, her attractiveness and eventually, her marriageability. This objectification of women is a manifestation of patriarchy. It may arguably assume a less sexualised form in our society (in comparison to societies in the West). But it exists and is reinforced daily through our conversations, media interaction and the market: a critical comment about your skin tone by a concerned aunt, fat-shaming by your girlfriends, counters stocked with steroid-infested whitening creams and quick fixes for height increase, or an advert on local television promoting dubious slimming gels.

The idealisation of this warped standard of beauty de-values women in others’ eyes and their own. Body image dissatisfaction is a growing problem in our society. The urban Pakistani woman is, in comparison to men, more dissatisfied with her body and more likely to engage in various disordered eating behaviour (Najam, Hanzala 2012). Such body dissatisfaction may be particularly pronounced amongst university-going women, many of whom idealise a body shape which is significantly smaller than their actual body size (Mahmud, Crittenden 2007).

There is then, a symbolic significance of the redesigned Barbie and the conception of beauty it propagates: beauty is diverse; it is internal and emanates from the person instead of her form. It may be very long before this more nuanced understanding of beauty gains acceptance in our society (or elsewhere). Women themselves will have to take the lead to bring about change. We must reject the stereotype of beauty that, too often, becomes our own predicament. We must actively refuse to partake in the exercise of objectification. We must bring up our children to find confidence in their bodies and their selves; and teach them the value of the mind and the heart. No woman will attain true empowerment till she continues to be judged for her body and not her person.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2016.

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