A new barbie, costing $50 and being marketted as a collector's item, is causing a controversy with parents lately. A friend made me aware of this new Barbie. Press surrounding the barbie cites concerned parents, who say that this doll encourages children to get tattoos. This seems a bit misguided as tattoos, when done in a professional licensed studio, are supported by the CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/features/bodyart/) and not cited as a health risk (when sanitary). However, the Barbie enterprise (including "girl oriented" computer games that allow you to change Barbie's make up and hairstyle, shopping games, and the doll notorious for being a physically impossible body type) encourages girls to place unhealthy importance on their looks and materialism that fuels the harmful message sent to young girls that their looks are the most important characteristic. While some claim Barbie causes eating disorders, I would not go so far as to say they are caused by a single toy. The doll does contribute to a culture of shallow values, of objectification, and creates an unhealthy and impossible beauty standard. Many before me have claimed this. The fact that parents are very concerned that a collector's edition, $50 Barbie that is marketed towards adults and only sold in special boutiques, not toy stores, seems to uphold the hegemonic ideals of the importance of looks. The difference is that now the look to be avoided is not only an average body type (In the U.S. the average clothing size of women is a 12 or 14 by different sources), but a modern trend of tattoos and piercings. Seeing as one is generally an external pressure and the other a personal choice, this concern seems rather misguided.
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