Artist Nickolay Lamm recently debuted his creation, “Normal” Barbie, a 3-D model created from measurements of an average 19-year-old woman. I’ve got to say I love it. His creation looks a lot more like me than the “traditional” Barbie and it’s nice to actually see that being portrayed.
Although I never remember wanting to look like Barbie, I struggled all too often with my body image growing up and sometimes still do… even though I have a healthy body that some tell me they “aim” to have. I chalk up my insecurities partly to being fed images of stick-thin/ Photoshopped women growing up. I do believe society’s body image preference is changing a bit – curvacious bodies like those of Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce, Jennifer Lawrence and Kim K have been swooned over. And though my booty is nowhere near as big as theirs, it makes me feel better.
Regarding “Normal” Barbie, I think she represents a great body image since she is a reflection of an average body. I’ve seen comments that women don’t think they’d have bought Barbie if she looked like “Normal” Barbie. I find that to be a bit sad and disturbing. I’d say add her to the line and make her one of Barb’s friends or her cousin or sister. I’m really interested in how well (or not) she’d sell.
…And now I feel weird constantly referring to an inanimate object as a “she,” and speaking of “selling” her in the same sentence.
So, enough of my thoughts – what do you think?
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About Jacqueline Hernandez Lewis
Featured on Associated Press as a trailblazing Latina influencer and on Parents as a Latina mom to follow, Jacqueline Hernandez Lewis is a writer and content creator celebrating womanhood, motherhood and humanity. She also works for a NYC nonprofit dedicated to preventing domestic violence and promoting gender justice. Of all her roles, mom and wife are her favorite.
Comments
Anonymous
I think that new barbie is great!
I saw a post on Huffington Post about 10 real-life barbies. They were hilarious. Hilarious.
Breast feeding barbie and Au Naturel barbies were faves.
I'd put a link here, but I don't wanna come out on your feed as spam. Google 10 real life barbies and it comes up. 🙂
I love it! I never wanted to look like Barbie growing up though. But it's still a positive change for people who sadly do think they should look like Barbie.
I had loads of Barbies growing up. I never really thought about the body image issues they could create (then again, I was always chubby). But I saw an interesting article by a woman who bought her daughter an American Girl doll instead of Barbie. Part of her logic was the more realistic shape. She could also customize the AG doll to "look" like her daughter (same hair, eyes, etc).
I love this concept! I think it would really help young girls not have body image issues at such a young age. It would be awesome if these went on the market!
I saw this the other day on Huffington and thought "I wanna write a post on that!" Ya beat me to it! 🙂 Growing up I had issues with this (not necessarily Barbie but any doll). In addition to body measurements, as a little brown in the mid-1990s, it was difficult to find dolls that looked like me, and because of that, it was a struggle to reach that place where I could see myself as beautiful just like those dolls :(… But I'm excited for the possibility of diverse dolls so that kids growing up don't feel "less than" just because they aren't stick thin or blonde (not that there's anything at all wrong with it if you are!) xo, K
I think this is important to show. I'm not sure how I feel about the Barbie image. Do girls really get complexes from playing with dolls? Probably not. But normal is always good!
I think that new barbie is great!
I saw a post on Huffington Post about 10 real-life barbies. They were hilarious. Hilarious.
Breast feeding barbie and Au Naturel barbies were faves.
I'd put a link here, but I don't wanna come out on your feed as spam. Google 10 real life barbies and it comes up. 🙂
I love it! I never wanted to look like Barbie growing up though. But it's still a positive change for people who sadly do think they should look like Barbie.
I had loads of Barbies growing up. I never really thought about the body image issues they could create (then again, I was always chubby). But I saw an interesting article by a woman who bought her daughter an American Girl doll instead of Barbie. Part of her logic was the more realistic shape. She could also customize the AG doll to "look" like her daughter (same hair, eyes, etc).
I love this concept! I think it would really help young girls not have body image issues at such a young age. It would be awesome if these went on the market!
XOXO
Chelsea
http://anchorsaweigh-ouradventure.blogspot.com/
I think the new Barbie is awesome & kind of looks like me considering how short she is! 😉
I absolutely love it and think it's amazing they did it.
I saw this the other day on Huffington and thought "I wanna write a post on that!" Ya beat me to it! 🙂
Growing up I had issues with this (not necessarily Barbie but any doll). In addition to body measurements, as a little brown in the mid-1990s, it was difficult to find dolls that looked like me, and because of that, it was a struggle to reach that place where I could see myself as beautiful just like those dolls :(… But I'm excited for the possibility of diverse dolls so that kids growing up don't feel "less than" just because they aren't stick thin or blonde (not that there's anything at all wrong with it if you are!)
xo, K
I think this is important to show. I'm not sure how I feel about the Barbie image. Do girls really get complexes from playing with dolls? Probably not. But normal is always good!