Raising daughters with a healthy self image in a society filled with images of impossible dreams can be difficult. Everywhere you look you can find images of super models that are super thin and seemingly the object of every man’s desire. Every image a girl receives concerning beauty is tied to an image of a thin beautiful girl smiling. From the time a girl is very young and given her first doll she is given an object that depicts a body image. Girls are naturally drawn toward Barbie dolls. Barbie has it all. She is tall, thin, blond and blue eyed. Inherently there is nothing wrong with any of those attributes. I know a young lady who never played with Barbie and had an eating disorder so let’s not place all blame on Barbie. The issue is the bombardment of images without the proper instruction, love and support for anything that diverts from the Barbie image.
Three Factors that Contribute to a Poor Body Image in Young Girls:
Weight Gain: Let us not forget the obvious. We must not dismiss the elephant in the room when we are talking about self esteem and body image. A young girl who is overweight will suffer with body image difficulties. Even if you took every image away she would compare herself to classmates and peers. We may live in a world with childhood obesity on the rise but the norm is still a thin appearance. When an overweight young lady tries on a dress or cannot fit comfortably in her jeans she will begin to feel bad about herself.
Mom with a Poor Body Image: If you are a mom who is constantly yo-yo dieting, envying thin moms, vocal about how “fat” you look, you will pass these insecurities on to your daughter. Your daughter will begin to place too much importance on being thin and not enough on being fit.
Critical Mom and/or Dad: If you are a parent of an overweight child please be careful in how you approach the issue. We do not want to pass along the idea that one must lose weight because of how they look. The emphasis should be on health. Subtly change the family diet and the level of family activity. Do not emphasize that your child needs to work out or eat less or deny her dessert based on her weight yet eat it yourself. Allow her to understand nutrition, portion size, and a half cup of ice cream.
We live in a world where thin is preferred. We cannot escape it. That will not change. What we can change is how we guide our daughters. Barbie is not your problem. She is a doll. If you feel strongly that Barbie dolls are contributing to a poor body image then feel free to ban them from your home. Yet, if you ban the Barbie and not attitude as a whole coming from the most important people in your daughter’s life there will be no change.