Life in Plastic: Analysis

The article previously summarized, 'Life in Plastic', focuses on the impression on our youth made by the mass of plastic that is Barbie. Although there are many different views on the effect that Barbie has made on our society, I hold an opinion that is not presented in the article. She may have an improbable figure, and some may take it too seriously, but when it comes down to it, Barbie is just a doll; a mere plaything to entertain children so their parents can have a slice of free time. She was not invented to warp children's minds into thinking they had to look like her. Barbie's sole purpose (besides bringing in big money for mattel) is to give our youth a somewhat realistic yet basic toy to play with. The idea that she has become this icon of perfection, that she has created the standard by which we are to live by, is ridiculous. Barbie is a doll, and that's all there is to it. She is a genius invention, a basic doll that you can dress up differently and sell as a different product. Those who put too much emphasis on her effect on the world are thinking too deeply into the issue. I believe she inspires creativity; Barbie can be whoever you want her to be. She inspires our youth to make something of themselves; they can be whoever they want to be.

Life In Plastic

The heated topic of how the media is shaping the image of what we are 'supposed' to look like is discussed in Life In Plastic, an article featured in The Economist in 2002. It refers to the image of Barbie, and whether she promotes the improbable look of "buxom breasts, a wafer-thin waist and permanently arched feet waiting to slip into a pair of high heels." Both sides of the argument are put forth in the article. The position that somehow the body image she presents has turned overtime into an idea of perfection as a negative and a positive are presented.

The first party states that the blonde haired, blue eyed piece of plastic setting an ideal is a negative, that having our youth believe they should want to be like Barbie is wrong. They say that Barbie's iconic status has contirbuted to weight-anxiety in teenagers along with magazines and television, that she promotes slimness, beauty, and youth as feminine success.

However, there are those who believe that the image of Barbie's figure is paid attention to less by her owners than her profession, or which version of Barbie, if you will. They argue that Barbie does not warp the minds of our youth to think that they have to look like her. Rather, they present the idea that while Barbie may look like a 'blonde bimbo', she promotes much more. As an astronaut, an engineer, a lifegaurd, firefighter, and many other careers of a striking variety, Barbie gives the idea that you can be whatever you want to be. She gives hope to those who play with her, inspiring them to make something of themselves. They claim that Barbie is a child of 'liberated times', that she 'empowers girls after all'.

The article briefly covers Mattel's success, worth more than Armani and right behind the Wall Street Journal. Whatever the impression that Barbie gives our youth, no one can deny that Barbie has indeed made a lasting impression on history. Placed in the 1976 Bicentennial Time Capsule, Barbie represents part of our culture, whichever image you take from her. No matter which of her many forms and professions she is at the time, Barbie is an icon of our time.