Many writers and filmmakers who address gender issues cite dolls, specifically Barbie, as a significant influence on female body image. In Tough Guise, Jackson Katz implies that the increased musculature of action figures leads boys to feel inadequate and overcompensate with violent behavior. But how much of an influence on gender-related body image can a toy really exert? The Onion mocks such concerns with its piece about Bratz dolls with enormous heads. The Simpsons playfully grapples with the issue in "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy." To what extent has your body image been influenced by dolls and action figures?
I personally don't believe that body image is influenced by dolls to the extent described in the essays we have been reading. I can imagine that body image was once greatly influenced by dolls when they first came out, but now it seems that the media is the bigger body influencer, and dolls are just there.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard someone say, "I want to look like that Barbie I saw at the store!" However, I do commonly hear people explain that they want to look like a fit celebrity. Celebrities are bigger body influencers than dolls nowadays because of the simple fact that they are real people. We know that dolls look perfect because manufacturers made them that way, without the dolls putting work in. But when we see a real person that looks perfect, we know they worked to obtain their physique. This puts society under pressure to work and obtain that physical state as well.
Overall, I believe that people portrayed in the media such as singers, actors, and celebrities, have the greatest influence on our body image.
Also agreeing with Allison I believe dolls do not affect or influence body image. Dolls are still around and still are sold but people don’t look at dolls the same as they use too. Today our society focuses on the media and what certain stars and actor/actress wears. If we turn on the TV to our favorite television shows we are greatly influenced by a character we admire. By this admiration we tend to try to mock what they wear or how they present themselves. For example if a commercial on a facial cream advertisement comes on and it’s a famous person advertisement it, you would be more likely to look more into that product. I feel that body image is mostly turned towards the media rather than dolls today in our generation.
ReplyDeleteI've actually written a research paper on this topic last year for AP Language, so I'm familar with the effects of these "sexier" dolls. Since children, especially young girls, are more likely to to play with dolls, they will often admire and see the dolls as a role model. Therefore, children are much more impressioned by the dolls and could feel inadequate or insecure because of them.
ReplyDeleteGirls my age don't usually play with dolls, so I'd be surprised if a friend of mine told me she felt insecure about her body because her doll looked better than her. My peers are much more influenced by the media. Everyone thinks someone famous is attractive, whether they're a television star, singer, or model. I feel like most girls my age would be more inclined to compare themselves them to a celebrtity rather than a toy. Most teenage girls are completely secure with themselves, so I feel like having slight envy for the way somebody else looks isn't completely abnormal.
Dolls do not influence children's heads. Dolls are like video games, where every little boy sees a violent video game and believes that how he should act in real life. Barbie was one of my favorite characters when I was little and I never thought that my body should look like Barbies. I guess I always knew that Barbie having every dream job wasn't real. I never expected to be like barbie because mainly she is a doll and secondly we look nothing alike. I always thought Barbie was just a beautiful to play with, nothing more nothing less. Girls my age or even women would never look at Barbie as a role model or even something they want to look like. You grow out of that stage after about 5. Toys in my opinion do not influence children, but TV, video games, and music videos influence children.
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