The perception of beauty today is distorted and bias. Most think that being skinny is what makes a person beautiful. While others think that women with curves is the way to go. And both are right.
For years there has been battle between those who are skinny and those who are curvy, the battle between the two body types has argued on whether being one size was more attractive than the other but neither truly embraced their own beauty.
While the motivational phrase “Everyone is beautiful” floats around, no one seems to take it to heart, there is animosity between the two body sizes and it should be changed.
Many young girls have women on TV and roles models that they look up to and begin to model themselves after. Barbie, being one of the top 10 popular toys in the 1990’s, was one of the worst offenders.
Barbie with her long beautiful blonde hair, small waist, and long legs made her the picture of that this truly should be what a woman looks like.
But taking the Barbie doll made by Mattel and taking her proportions, Galia Slayen’s, once a student at Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon, created a life-size Barbie to show what an eating disorder looked like.
If Barbie were a real woman she would be about 6 feet tall and had a 39” bust, 18” wait, and 33” hips. At around 5’9” in height and weighing 110 lbs, her BMI would be 16.24, fitting the weight criteria for anorexia. Also, she would have to walk on all fours due to her ridiculous body proportions.
When the Slumber Party doll was released in 1965, she came with a bathroom scale that was set at 110 pounds and also came with a book on “How to Lose Weight” with the only directions in the book being “Don’t Eat.”
For a toy whose main consumers were young girls from the ages of 3-12, Barbie was not the greatest role model.
How in any way is this considered beautiful? Many young girls and women battle anorexia and the desire to be smaller and smaller infects more each year because the conception of beautiful is highly distorted.
It has gotten to the point where models in campaigns no longer look like themselves because of the heavy make-up and airbrushed effects. The models themselves don’t even look like the girl on the cover, how do they expect you to?
In society today, what is considered beautiful is a tall, petite woman with an ambiguous race that has long flowing hair and long legs. But everyone is beautiful whether they are short or tall, curvy or skinny, every and any race, and no one should let society, magazines, or anyone else tell you otherwise. Everyone is beautiful, remember that.
*Karina Bueno is a guest blogger for 'The Ambitious Girl'! She is an inspiring journalist for The New York Times and is currently an editor for OuRCity news.
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