Barbie Stereotypes

I decided to write my final paper for General Psychology about the article on Barbie dolls and the association of negative body images and self-esteem in young girls. The article “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.”, was written for the purpose of conducting the first study for seeing if there is a link between the extremely thin barbie doll to young girls and their body ideals. Barbie is a doll that 99% of girls aged from three to ten have. She has been called a role model for these girls, who look up to her for beauty. However, it is not unknown that Barbie is extremely thin with unequal body proportions. With 99% of girls from age three to ten looking at Barbie as a role model, millions of girls are being influenced negatively about their body …show more content…
Over 90% of the school’s population was caucasian and were all from middle-class families. They studied 57 children aged 5 ½ to 6 ½, 49 aged 6 ½ to 7 ½, and 56 7 ½ to 8 ½. Each age group accounted for roughly one-third of the subjects. Before they could answer all of their research questions, they needed another doll; one who had more equal body proportions and weight. They decided to use Emme, a doll that was created in 2002. When compared to Barbie, Emme would be a U.S. size 16 in real-life, while Barbie would only be a size 2. To measure the body image in each girl, the authors used The Revised Body Esteem Scale, which would account for the child’s thoughts, feelings, and their general appearance. To make sure that this scale was accurate, they also used a questionnaire with two lines of seven girls each, with different weights and physiques. This questionnaire would measure their actual body size and their ideal