Article about Barbie that I plan on using in my writing project

     In my English class we have to write a research paper over a topic we find interesting. I chose to write my paper on Barbies influence on our modern definition of beauty and the harm that this definition can cause to girls.

     One of my areas of focus in this paper will be how unrealistic Barbies measurements are. I think the photo below does a very good job of summing it up.

     In addition to the photo above (that I plan to use in my visual presentation) I found an article that focused on a study in which  Barbie was scaled  to life size, had her measurements taken and was compared to the measurements of average women. The title of the article is " Measuring Up to Barbie: Ideals of the Feminine Body in Popular Culture" and it was written by Jacqueline Urla and Alan C. Swedlund. I determined that this article was scholarly and therefore a good source for my paper because it includes a study with data divided into multiple sections and has multiple references. Below is the main table I plan on using in my paper:

Measurement                         Barbie                  Average

Height                                     5'10"                     5'4"

Chest Circumference               35"                        35.7"

Waist Circumference               20"                        31"

Hip Circumference                  32.50"                   38.10"

Hip Breadth                            11.6"                     13.49"

Thigh Circumference               19.25"                  22.85"

     The article had many other interesting points such as how Barbie continues to strive in changing social climates. For example Barbie used to have careers such as ballerina and candy striper and now in the modern times she has jobs such as doctor and astronaut to reflect the roles many modern women play in society.

     

     Another interesting thing the article brought up was Shani who was "essentially brown plastic poured into blond Barbies mold" (Urla, Swedlund). While the doll had more ethnic clothes and her features were claimed to be more realistic of African American women she could still share clothes with Barbie. They were still very similar in body type which just serves as another example of how Barbie tries to fit all body types and races into a certain ideal of what beauty should look like. 

    This article conveys a very successful rhetorical image. It does so through logos. The authors don't simply make claims and show pictures that may or may not be accurate. They rely on data from experiments to back up their claims. 

Source:

Urla, Jacqueline and Alan C. Swedlund "Measuring Up to Barbie: Ideals of the Feminine Body in Popular Culture" Gender and Sexuality. 133-143. Web. 12 April, 2013.