The Barbie Doll and racism

The Barbie doll and all the dangers which lie in the false beauty standards it represents.

I have grown up always wanting to have the beautiful Barbie dolls, with all their fancy dresses, home appliances, pools, and all that a privileged blonde girl is supposed to have in the US. I don’t say,  that I wanted to look like Barbie because I always knew I cannot be like her, but I was well aware from a young age, that her looks are the looks which are touted the highest all around the world.

I believe there are millions all around the world, who share my memory in wanting a Barbie so bad, as she has represented all that beauty and style are about.  And this stands for people of all races all around the world. It is no wonder that Japanese are obsessed with the Hafu beauty ( and Koreans alongside all Indians and Southeast Asians out there). White skin, blonde hair is known as the privileged and the “proper” sign of beauty through Barbie dolls. This way, Barbie has successfully managed to plant this beauty ideal all around the world, making women all aware of their flaws in not being blonde, blue-eyed with a perfect body. This is why human Barbie dolls like Pamela Anderson or Marilyn Monroe are still considered the sexiest out there.

Of course, the topic of racism doesn’t start with the Barbie doll. But it has been subconsciously used as a tool. To promote the fact, that white caucasian blondes are those, who get it all and you should be like them.

This has made Barbie an utterly dangerous example of the real issue of racism where racism is never said or initiated, it is just served as a pure fact. And this is exactly where its danger lies. 

I am aware that Mattel and other doll makers are now making Barbie dolls of a different sort. But I have absolutely no doubt which Barbie is still considered the real deal and the most popular out there: the one that always was.

Standing up against racism is not via riots. Standing up against racism has to start with the roots. To make our children aware, those Barbie dolls are not the standard.  And magazines and advertisements should carefully start including non -Caucasian models in their ads ( there is still an extremely low number of ads on TV and in magazines, even low number of models out there who are not Caucasian) there should be a concentrated effort in bringing down the symbol of the blonde fair-skinned beauty which is with us, with our children through almost every Disney movie and every old fairy tale. This is a long process, not one sudden outcry. It shouldn’t be killing any more people. It all starts with our children’s education.

I’ve learned to accept the way I look. But I am aware that others cannot. Or simply their community won’t let them do so, because of how these false beauty standards have affected them. And nobody is more racist to one another than people who in fact share the same racial characteristics and heredity in so many cases, unfortunately.

There are still thousands of women out there, who undergo absolutely unnecessary surgical procedures, to look like Barbie. This is not only dangerous but really, greatly bad. Treasure yourself for who you are and most importantly teach your children do so. That Barbie is just one type of beauty and not the ONE beauty standard out there.

Thank you in advance!