It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that society has inflicted a good lot of girls to think that they’re simply not enough, especially appearance-wise. Why is this? Well – and this is my humble, but very unprofessional opinion – there are a lot of environmental cues reminding them of the supposed female “ideal” and the fact that they somehow need to conform to this ideal in order to be accepted. The scary part is that this idea starts to set in early, innocent activities. One example: playing with a Barbie doll.
The Barbie franchise has received a lot of heat over the years about the unrealistic proportions of their classic leading lady, and for a long time, it didn’t seem as if they cared to do anything about it. Recently, however, the company came out with a commercial that sparked hope for the brand. It featured a bunch of little girls dreaming about their bright futures via playing with their Barbies. This imagery made many former Barbie enthusiasts nostalgic for their younger, aspirational days. But this commercial was no where near as inspiring as what they did next, and that was to release an entirely revamped line of Barbies featuring dolls of all shapes, sizes, colors, professions, ethnicities, religions – you name it.
Now, the next generation of dreamers has the opportunity to recognize their own idea of what is beautiful because she is unique, not because she is “the perfect woman.” With such a diversified line of dolls, the emphasis of Barbie is no longer the way she looks, but what she does. Or more specifically, what the children imagine her glamorous life to be. For the first time, a company founded when women were rewarded for their appearance rather than merits is flipping the message.
Not to rain on Mattel’s parade, but they aren’t the only ones making statements about evolving beauty standards in America. Between movements like #BeautyBeyondSize, big names like Jennifer Lawrence and Christina Hendricks speaking up about not only body shaming but also the wage gap that still exists, and even campaigns like the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, change is happening. And it’s happening pretty fast. Now the next question I have is, when will we see a new Ken doll?