Barbie Girl. Barbie World. What About Ken?

Three weeks ago a video appeared on my newsfeed labeled “Imagine the Possibilities| Barbie”. I hesitated to click on this video as I was prepared to see yet again another video criticizing Barbie’s unrealistic waist size and large chest. However, I was immediately shocked as I watched five young girls pretending to live out their adult dream jobs of being a college professor, soccer coach, veterinarian, businesswoman and a museum tour guide. While these girls are being displayed, onlookers are captured with hidden cameras smiling and giggling at these younger girls.

A video that I believed to be yet again another negative connotation of Barbie’s image quickly turned into a video that was both empowering and inspirational and finally captured all that Barbie has to offer. In the last few seconds, the entire advertisement is brought together through the inspiring scene of a young girl playing with her Barbies showing that all of these dream jobs start with a little girl playing with her Barbie doll at home as she enters this self discovering journey. As the ending message says it all “ When a girl plays with Barbie she imagines everything that she can become.”

Although some individuals may argue and say that although this commercial can be classified as an advertisement that captures all that Barbie has to offer to the younger generations, there are still two main issues with Barbies, with one of these issues being that little girls want to look like Barbie and be like Barbie. “There is evidence that exposure to stereotypical media images can elicit body dissatisfaction in women” (Chia, S.C., & Gunther, A.C. (2006)). Yes, this video finally portrays the professional women that Barbie can instill in these younger girls and planting the seed in these young minds that they can be anything they want, which is positive, but this is the time when it is also imperative to instill in these girls that they don’t have to look a certain way and it is okay to be plus size.

In fact, I would argue that there is an even bigger issue than the one stated above and that is the wording at the end of the video. Through explicitly stating that when a girl plays with a Barbie, automatically states that it isn't normal for boys to play with Barbies and it's a girl thing. Yes, this video is empowering but their needs to be more of a representation of Ken, the overshadowed boyfriend of Barbie, and more acceptance of boys playing with these dolls. We quickly forget girls aren't the only ones that play with Barbie’s and that it is okay to show that boys enjoy playing with them as well. Recent content analyses have suggested, “the media’s emphasis on appearance is increasingly communicated to both female and male audiences” (Aubrey, J.S. & Taylor, L.D.). Instead of focusing on strictly how Barbie affects the younger generations, it is often mistaken that there is no emphasis on how it is affecting younger men who are playing with the Ken doll. In fact, there are arguably just as many cases in which adult men hopelessly want to become just like Ken as girls want to look like Barbie. These individuals become so obsessed with being Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, that they undergo over $200,00 in cosmetic surgery as did Rodrigo Alves (Gigi Engle). 

I personally believe that there doesn’t need to be anymore campaigns showing how amazing Barbie is and all that she has to offer, because that point has been made clear. However, there does need to be a campaign showing the different Ken’s that are in the world and when a boy plays with Ken he can imagine everything he can become, therefore encouraging more guys to indulge in this "girl" habit. 

References

Aubrey, J. S., & Taylor, L. D. (2009). The role of lad magazines in priming men's chronic and temporary appearance-related schemata: An investigation of longitudinal and experimental findings.

Human Communication Research, 35(1), 28-58. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2008.01337.x

Chia, S. C., & Gunther, A. C. (2006). How media contribute to misperceptions of social norms about sex. Mass Communication & Society, 9(3), 301-320. doi: 10.1207/s15327825mcs0903_3

Engle, G. (2015, January 28). Guy Who Spent Over $200K To Look Like Ken Doll Has Officially Succeeded. Retrieved October 30, 2015.