Time to Take Reponsibility, Mattel

Barbie is not just a toy.

Mattel knows Barbie is not just a toy. She is a cultural icon all over the world, and she is reality to those who play with her. She is teaching children what it means to be a girl.

Researchers have concluded that toys represent messages about gender, adult roles, and values that children internalize... children comprehend elements of their society through their toys (Kuther 2004).
Kuther, T.L. et al. 2004. "Early adolescents' experience with and views of Barbie. Adolescence from the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection: 39; 153.

So what are they learning about their society's values through Barbie? That beauty, material objects, and popularity are coveted. They're learning you have to buy objects and accessories to be trendy, and trendiness means happiness. At young ages they're learning ways to try to improve their appearance. They're learning thin is in. They're learning the hottest accesory a girl can have is a hot boy-toy by her side. They're not learning to be independent, to strive for intellectual achievement, or to accept their appearance the way they were created.

Mattel, the way you market Barbie and the values you promote to children takes away their right to individual discovery and the notion of creating their own identity. You exploit children's readiness to accept values from a toy they look up and aspire to be. And for what? To sell more products? You've contributed to children's image-problems, eating disorders, and a need for materialism that can last all the way into adulthood. What you're really selling to children through your products are a general sense of inadequacy and disapointment in themselves. You've created an unbridled force of influence through your Barbie empire, now it's time to take ownership of your responsibility in the development of youth and make Barbie a true role model. Make her one that doesn't promote unrealistic body types, has more aspirations than being the best dressed or most popular, and tries to improve her intellectual growth and not just her outward appearance.

Make Barbie worthy of being a little girl's best friend.