Self-Image Issues? Blame Barbie!

Over 60’s Barbie.

Barbie is well over 60 and by human standards, she’s officially categorized as geriatric. So, while she pulls on a fresh Tena Lady, we should be giving her a great big hurrah for making so far without the need for a Zimmer Frame or glasses. This little plastic beauty has lifted many a girl’s spirit by being absolutely perfect all of the time, every time.

With her rosebud lips and long, shapely legs to provide hours of happiness, she offers an escape from reality in her dreamy, plastic world. In doing so, did she inadvertently embed an unreal expectation into our waking psyche? Fantasy is one thing, but the reality is for the rest of the day — some of us have trouble understanding the differences, often blurring the two, getting disappointed and angry when one isn’t anything like the other.

If Barbie wanted to show some fairness in this world, she should’ve aged like real people do. She should look like this now, right?

Oops. Well, that didn’t go the way I expected. I thought I knew what I needed to do after reading the headline and following the link. I was deceived… again!

Barbie Doll didn’t develop a single wrinkle since her birth. My expectations were different. I settled back into my chair and prepared myself to see a set of cleverly Photo-Shopped pictures of the plastic-fantastic made up with greying hair, droopy boobs and crêpe-paper neck. That’s a reasonable reality, right?

Put that shiny away. This is Barbie we’re talking about. Barbie world isn’t a people world.

The page’s web address should’ve been a clue. The article wasn’t written for people like me. It’s for Barbie branders and lifestylers who thrive on influencer trends. Fake is currency. Fake is best. Reality sucks. Sixty-year-old Barbie would never be a bent-over, liver-spotted woman with an enlarged goitre on her neck. She’s a glamorous Gucci Granny living the high life. Her bitchin’ skin, nails, and feminine shapeliness remain firm. She’s got the looks, the latest fashions, love and happy ever afters… again!

So, when folks remind you of how the media promotes unrealistic body image issues and contributes to the breakdown of relationships, then send them that link. Tell them that it’s not just the media’s fault that we’re being screwed. It’s because we like being screwed and invite extra screwing on-the-side after that.

Another story that’s totally screwed is my novel. Just as you believe in one thing about life and love, you come to know something else… and it’s totally shocking when the truth surfaces.

–M Forman (Author)