In class we talked about the different icons of femininity such as “Barbie.” I believe that Barbie can be a role model in a positive way and also in a negative way. According to our class discussion, Barbie teaches young girls that, “we girls can do anything…” (N. Spencer, personal communication, September 4, 2012). This is the positive role modeling that Barbie portrays to younger girls. Women can do anything they want to as long as they put forth their heart and mind into it. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. What I don’t believe Barbie portrays in a positive way, is her body structure. I believe she is created this way, because that is what today’s society considers women to be beautiful, which is not the case. Basically what society is saying that in order to be beautiful, you have to be skinny, tall and wear blobs of makeup. She is also telling women that they have to wear high heels, wear fancy clothing and not get messy. ALL women are BEAUTIFUL, skinny, tall, fat, short, green and blue! In my opinion, if someone does like you, because of who you are, that is their fault and move on. Don’t change who you are for anyone. If you want to wear basketball shorts, color your face purple and play football, do so! Don’t let anyone stop you from being you! I think the reason why the numbers of women participating in Sports have decreased is, because of icons like Barbie and the women in social media and magazines. Women can still be beautiful and play sports.
-Alicia Jefferson
Sorry for the font size!
ReplyDeleteAlicia Jefferson
Hi Alicia,
ReplyDeleteNo problem with the font size. If I can read it, then I assume others will be able to read it. I really like what you wrote about on this topic.
Thanks for sharing.
Dr. Spencer
I completely agree with this! Society gives girls an unrealistic view of what females should look like. If a magazine and the media were right about what girls should look like, girls would be 5'9" and size 0. For most girls this is unrealistic. For most sports it is unrealistic as well. Gymnastics is a great example. The top gymnasts are typically around 5 feet tall. Being taller than that can be a huge disadvantage. Most have a more muscular structure. They would not fit barbies idea of a typical female body. My coach was talking to my team about body image. She said that she saw on a girl's t-shirt a perfect saying. It said, "Strong is the new skinny." I feel as though this is a perfect message for girls. It shows that females can play sports, be strong, and not be size 0 to have a perfect body. This is the message society should be sending to girls.
ReplyDeleteSunny Marchand
I agree with this 100%! I feel as the Barbie perception is slowly dying out, but now society views beauty as someone who looks like a model; The skinny, unique, unrealistic look. Like you said all women are beautiful in their own way. Beauty is within the eye of the beholder, so regardless of what society feels is beautiful not everyone feels that “the model/Barbie look” is beautiful. I feel if wearing makeup and high heels is not who you really are, then be you. If you want to play football with the guys, or ride dirt bikes in the mud then do it! Don’t change who you are just to fit in to society’s stereotype, because just like Alicia said women can still be beautiful and play any sports.
ReplyDelete-Danielle Miller
The discussion we had in class about the Barbie image was one of my favorites in class thus far! I am glad someone brought it up on the blog. I really thought the real-life visualization was funny, mostly because it was so unrealistic! The measurements of the real-life Barbie sounded like they would be achieved by a plastic-surgery addict, not a healthy woman or an athlete. Professional female athletes, like you said about the gymnasts typically being around 5 feet tall, come in different builds based on the sport they play and a "perfect" Barbie image is unrealistic for most of them to achieve and be competitive in their sports. Brittany Griner is nothing like the Barbie model, but she will be making a lot of money in WNBA some day; I'd say being built a little different has worked out for her!
ReplyDelete- Joey Durant