Children are so gullible

Both klaus barbie, and other dolls i'd like to see and Teen Mags: How to Get a Guy, Drop 20 Pounds, and Lose Your Self-Esteem address an idea that does not only apply to girls: the impact of things (socially-accepted/enforced) on a child.

Both barbies and teen magazines create preconceptions and images in a child's mind that stick for life. First ideas and memories are important for anyone, and thus a child is particularly susceptible to creating stereotypes and false preconceptions when they are young. Children are known to be innocent and trusting- so they'll believe what anyone (including magazines) say. In early life, the objects that surround a child are telling them what image is perfect, what they should be, and what is wrong. Barbies, like Susan Jane Gilman says, are particularly stereotypical and just plain horrifying. I never thought about this before , and since my access to barbies is severely limited (I am proud to be able to say that I've never owned a barbie), I am not sure as to what extent the ideas a barbie creates effect a child's mind. According to this article, however, it seems pretty great. What shocks me completely, though, is the fact that a child's obsession with barbie does not end with the end of childhood. Reading about the lady who wanted to become a barbie really freaked me out. Sure, she is probably an extreme case, but the fact remains that the majority of people want to be freakishly tall, have blond hair, and be a barbie. How could we have put the idea of perfection upon a scary doll?

Like barbies, I have tended to stay away from teen magazines. In fact, I am not aware of having a role model as a child... unless one counts my older sister- but what younger sister doesn't love and respect her older sis? My experience in the area of teen magazines and their articles is lacking, suffice to say. I was not aware of how stereotypical and dehumanizing these magazines are. What's interesting is how many girls know it is silly and idiotic, yet read it, perhaps unknowingly falling in the trap of these stereotypes. Hanging out with girls, sometimes I listen to them complaining about their weight, or their hair, or how they need to get in shape, when I haven't noticed any difference with their appearance. Of course, I don't usually notice these things anyways, even if there is something to notice, but the point is that girls do have that image of perfection in their minds, of a barbie-like figure that they are forever trying to attain. Not to a drastic degree, but that goal is still there. It's hard to understand why people go on diets or fret about their shape- they look perfectly normal to me.

It is not only barbies that create this image of a 'good and perfect' girl. This concept is everywhere. In Disney movies,the girls are often portrayed the same. Sure, their hair color may differ, but they still remain thin, relatively helpless in a fight, needing a man to come save them, and completely loving and morally pure. Of course, there is Mulan, which gives a fighting image for girls, but her looks are still regarded as that 'pretty perfection'. Diversity in Disney is only just now starting begin (much like barbies)- The Princess and the Frog may have a black woman as the protagonist, but the list at the end of the barbie article of barbies that should be could very well apply to Disney girls. There are no "Dinner Roll Barbies" or "Body Piercing Barbies" in the Disney world either.

What I would like to know is which objects, articles, and toys have an effect on boys to create some preconception of what they should be. For it seems to me that children believe what they see and hear as they take in their surroundings- and why not? They don't know how the world is, or should be. They don't know that the world should not have a should be. As as child, people are just trying to adjust and learn their way around the world. If they are being told the wrong thing, well- who's to tell them that?