The Brown & White

A basket filled with Barbie dolls sat in the middle of the Women's Center Friday during a discussion on body image.

The discussion was a part of Lehigh's Healthy Body Image week, hosted by the Women's Center.

Lois Benedict, a teaching assistant for the English department and member of Lehigh's Feminisms, said the purpose of the lunch was to discuss the ambivalence of Barbie, celebrate her and critique her at the same time.

"How can we critique Barbie without bashing her?" Benedict said.

Benedict, along with Kristina Fennelly and Liz Vogstburger, ran the discussion by presenting statistics and interesting facts about Barbie.

Fennelly and Vogstburger are also members of the Feminisms and graduate interns in the Women's Center.

Barbie's full name is Barbie Millison Roberts and was first introduced in March 1959 by Mattel Toys, the group said.

Since 1959, Mattel has created over 1 billion outfits for Barbie and 1 billion shoes, making Mattel one of the biggest clothing manufacturers in the world.

Barbie first had a belly button in 2000.

To begin the discussion, the group reminisced about their typically happy memories of Barbie as a child.

Andria Espinosa, '11, said as she got older, Barbie became harder to relate to.

"You can play with Barbie, but when your kids start emulating Barbie, you need to remind them it's just a doll," Espinosa said. "You can't live by the plastic."

The group talked about the race and ethnicity of Barbie. They questioned whether the race of the user was mirrored in the type of Barbie played with.

They also wondered whether or not the women's brothers played with Barbies.

"You look back and see how racist and sexist it all is," Donasia Tillery, '11, said.

When asked whether or not they plan on letting their future children play with Barbies, most had to think about their answers.

Zoe Zachariades, '09, said she had a good relationship with Barbie, so it would be hard to say no to her kids playing with them.

Shelly Harris, '09, took the opposite standpoint.

"I am not going to let my kids play with Barbie," Harris said.

The main concerns of the group revolved around the image Barbie portrays to young girls about the bodies they should have.

Tillery said that infatuation with Barbie's body is the inherent problem with Barbie.

The three-foot tall "My Size Barbie," which was supposed to be about as tall as the child playing with it, was smaller in proportions.

Mattel marketed the clothes for My Size Barbie, saying the clothes would also fit little girls.

This sent a negative message to the girls who did not fit into the unreasonably small clothing size.

Everyone in the group agreed the image of Barbie does contribute to eating disorders.

In 1965, Mattel released Sleepover Barbie, fitted with a scale, set to 110 pounds.

The set also came with an advice book that advised its readers to "not eat."

The following year, it was pulled off the shelf.

Fennelly purchased the scale for $12 on eBay to be used in the discussion.

The scale was passed around and most expressed shock that Mattel would market a product like that.

"The point of sleepovers was to eat as much as possible," Harris said.

Harris said in today's world, Barbie is vintage and the new doll on the shelf is the Bratz doll. Bratz dolls have large heads and very skinny bodies.

The dolls are said to always be fitted in promiscuous clothing.

Harris said she is more concerned about the Bratz dolls than she is about Barbie now.

"You need to be careful with the 'new' Barbie," Jessica Frey, '05, said. "She has a lot of big make-up over her eyes and very slutty clothes."

"The bottom line is that little girls are playing with Barbies - this is the image of women they have," said Tamara Nisic, a graduate student.