If Barbie were a real woman she would be about 5’9” and weigh around 110 pounds, making her body mass index a 16.2. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute states that a normal body mass index is between 18.5 and 24.9, so basically Barbie would meet the criteria for anorexia.
Most children probably are not going to grow up to look like Barbie and if they do, it would take very unhealthy measures to reach that goal.
Nickolay Lamm, a University of Pittsburgh graduate, decided to try to design a doll that kids might actually grow up to look like, without getting plastic surgery and starving themselves.
The new Lammily Doll promotes the idea that “average is beautiful.”
This past March, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to make these dolls with typical human body proportions a reality. According to lammily.com, More than 13,621 backers, pre ordered over 19,000 dolls.
The Lammily doll, also known as the “Normal Barbie,” is based off of an average 19-year-old’s body proportions. She is much shorter than Barbie, thicker, and she has brown hair instead of blonde.
Lamm has also developed stickers for these new dolls where young girls will be able to add freckles, acne, scars, and even stretch marks.
This makes girls able to actually grow with their doll and understand what kind of things happen to a real girl, as opposed to striving for the impossible body standards that Barbie has set.
According to dosomething.org, only 5% of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media. They also state that about 91% of women are in some way unhappy with their bodies.
Of course a Barbie doll is not responsible for the alarming amount of women in this country who are dissatisfied with their bodies. However, if we start influencing children to be healthy instead of tall, skinny, and flawless then we can show them that there is nothing abnormal or unattractive about being average.
If this evolutionary toy were to be sold worldwide then it could help make an improvement on the way girls grow up to view themselves, not only in our country but across the globe.
