Sports Illustrated puts woman over 50 on Swimsuit Issue cover

figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
Well, using the term "woman" very loosely, here is the next cover model for the SI Swimsuit Issue:
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Barbie’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Causes a Stir Online

In response to renewed criticism that Barbie promotes unhealthy body image in young girls, Mattel has started the "Unapologetic" campaign. Part of this is partnering with Sports Illustrated to put Barbie on the cover of one of the biggest mainstays of manufactured sexuality. Because... I don't know, is this some sort of corporate "YOLO!"?

And here I thought that the SI Swimsuit Issue couldn't get any more plastic.
 
LittleSin

LittleSin

You know what.

Barbie should be apologetic. Because I never ONCE looked at a Barbie and wanted to look like barbie. No girl does, I think. I looked at Barbie because she dressed nice.

AND she was paleontologist, veterinarian, teacher, doctor, flapper, Egyptian queen, astronaut etc etc.

Any feminist that looks at barbie and concentrates on solely on how she looks is missing the point. Barbie was the only girls doll that WAS someone.

Also, I'm sorry Pez, but your last comment is perfectly nauseating. I just...ugh.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
LittleSin said:
Barbie should be apologetic. Because I never ONCE looked at a Barbie and wanted to look like barbie. No girl does, I think. I looked at Barbie because she dressed nice.
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Studies have suggested otherwise, such as this one. "A total of 162 girls, from age 5 to age 8, were exposed to images of either Barbie dolls, Emme dolls (U.S. size 16), or no dolls (baseline control) and then completed assessments of body image. Girls exposed to Barbie reported lower body esteem and greater desire for a thinner body shape than girls in the other exposure conditions." While the long-term impact is less clear, it is easily shown that young girls are influenced, at least in the short term, by Barbie.

Also, I'm sorry Pez, but your last comment is perfectly nauseating. I just...ugh.
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I realized I could have chosen a better word than "plastic" because I did not mean to imply surgery, I meant to imply fakeness, because those photos are manipulated to the point that they are not representative of reality.
 
LittleSin

LittleSin

figmentPez said:
Studies have suggested otherwise, such as this one. "A total of 162 girls, from age 5 to age 8, were exposed to images of either Barbie dolls, Emme dolls (U.S. size 16), or no dolls (baseline control) and then completed assessments of body image. Girls exposed to Barbie reported lower body esteem and greater desire for a thinner body shape than girls in the other exposure conditions." While the long-term impact is less clear, it is easily shown that young girls are influenced, at least in the short term, by Barbie.



I realized I could have chosen a better word than "plastic" because I did not mean to imply surgery, I meant to imply fakeness, because those photos are manipulated to the point that they are not representative of reality.
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Damn. That is dense study. It seems that they kind of gloss over environmental stimuli? Mothers and fathers talking about their diets and their own body dissatisfaction? Peers focusing only on Barbies looks and nothing else? Media?

To focus solely on Barbie seems...I don't know.

It does mention that as the girls grow older they seem to not focus on the barbie anymore and become ambivalent towards her.

Also, I better understand you last comment now. Thank you. :)
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

I think it's less problematic to talk about the dubious "Barbie Effect" (personally loved Barbie as a kid, didn't want to look like her because she's a doll), but the fact that one of the most recognizable toys for girls is being featured in what usually can be considered soft-core porn.
 
LittleSin

LittleSin

Celt Z said:
I think it's less problematic to talk about the dubious "Barbie Effect" (personally loved Barbie as a kid, didn't want to look like her because she's a doll), but the fact that one of the most recognizable toys for girls is being featured in what usually can be considered soft-core porn.
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Yeh. I haven't picked up a SI before so...I wasn't sure what the content was.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

LittleSin said:
Yeh. I haven't picked up a SI before so...I wasn't sure what the content was.
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You and I aren't usually the target demographic for that issue, and neither are those who usually play with Barbies, so who thought this was a good idea?:facepalm:[DOUBLEPOST=1392340850,1392340653][/DOUBLEPOST]
WasabiPoptart said:
My Barbie was a rock star turned battered wife & hooker thanks to one of my cousins.
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When my best friend and I were at the age where we really didn't play with Barbies anymore, we did have one last summer-long story line that would make "Flowers in the Attic" seem sane by comparison. I think we were just trying to see who could make the other laugh harder with the insanity of it all.
 
LittleSin

LittleSin

I still have a collection of boxed barbies. XD

The ones I opened I coupled with my extensive collection of dinosaur models/action figures. I had a land of the lost thing on the go with story lines and a monarchy and a war...then a peace.

But that all changed when the fire dragons attacked.
 
LittleSin

LittleSin

bhamv3 said:
I had a Barbie when I was a kid.

I apologize for nothing.
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Jet has some princess dolls Inclusing a Princess Peach.

He took Peach for show and tell. The other kids began making fun at him because she's pink and girly. Now Jet is scrutinizing everything he has, toys he loves, for signs of being 'girly'.

I feel so SAD about that!
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

When the 12" GI Joes came back a decade ago, my mother bought one for each of her grand-daughters. "I want their Barbies to date real men, not those wimpy Ken dolls."
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
LittleSin said:
Damn. That is dense study. It seems that they kind of gloss over environmental stimuli? Mothers and fathers talking about their diets and their own body dissatisfaction? Peers focusing only on Barbies looks and nothing else? Media?

To focus solely on Barbie seems...I don't know.

It does mention that as the girls grow older they seem to not focus on the barbie anymore and become ambivalent towards her.
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Well, it wouldn't be possible to study mothers and fathers talking about diet or body dissatisfaction in the same way. The testing methodology was that three groups of girls were told the same story, each with different accompanying images. One group saw Barbies, one group saw the Emme dolls, and the last saw images that didn't contain depictions of bodies of any type. After seeing the story, they were asked a series of questions about body image.

And, yes, the summary does mention that immediate impact was no evident in older girls. While it could be that they aren't impacted anymore and Barbie becomes a non-issue, it could also be that the influence isn't as immediate, or that the damage has already been done and the current effect is too small to measure. There are a lot of possibilities for why younger girls seeing Barbie has a measurable effect while it does not on older girls.
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

LittleSin said:
Jet has some princess dolls Inclusing a Princess Peach.

He took Peach for show and tell. The other kids began making fun at him because she's pink and girly. Now Jet is scrutinizing everything he has, toys he loves, for signs of being 'girly'.

I feel so SAD about that!
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Nooooooo! That's not right. He shouldn't feel bad about having dolls. Toys are toys. And those kids are obviously not gamers. Who puts down Peach?!
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

I feel like I should point out that I had a Barbie doll because I liked how she looked naked. I liked boobies even as a little kid. Probably a bit different from what Jet is doing with his dolls. Probably.

I still apologize for nothing!
 
Shakey

Shakey

bhamv3 said:
I feel like I should point out that I had a Barbie doll because I liked how she looked naked. I liked boobies even as a little kid. Probably a bit different from what Jet is doing with his dolls. Probably.

I still apologize for nothing!
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I had an exercise barbie doll, and two older sisters. They hated when I played with them because I always insisted on my barbie being naked. That and I'd pop off the heads of their dolls when they weren't looking.
 
David

David

I have to say, I feel bad for the small percentage of women who through genetics/metabolism are naturally close to "barbie-esque" proportions and are constantly blasted by feminists for not being shaped like "real" women.
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

David said:
I have to say, I feel bad for the small percentage of women who through genetics/metabolism are naturally close to "barbie-esque" proportions and are constantly blasted by feminists for not being shaped like "real" women.
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No one is naturally close to "barbie-esque" proportions.
 
WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

There is a more recent study on girls from age 6 -10 in which they were given a thin Barbie, average-sized Emme doll, or LEGOs to play with then they were evaluated. Their body image evaluations showed no significant difference between any of the three groups. The researchers also measured the girl's food intake after playing with the dolls. They theorized that the girls who played with Barbie would eat less. Instead they found the girls who played with Emme took in more food. (Anschutz, D. J., Engels, R. C., M., & E. (2010). The effects of playing with thin dolls on body image and food intake in young girls. Sex Roles, 63(9-10), 621-630. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9871-6)

I did a paper within the last two years on body image and social influence. I found one study which said school aged girls are more greatly influenced by their peers and their mother's attitudes where diet and body image are concerned. This was seen in girls as young as 5. I don't think I have that class's folder saved anymore and don't have the time to sift through my school's online library to find the right article.
 
HCGLNS

HCGLNS

This is the actual cover for the 2014 Swimsuit Edition

2014 cover.jpeg
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
HCGLNS said:
This is the actual cover for the 2014 Swimsuit Edition

View attachment 13890
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To clarify, most issues of the magazine will have that cover; 1,000 limited editions will have a Barbie cover, and the Barbie cover will appear on a billboard in Times Square as well. There's also a Swimsuit Issue themed doll being released.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
David said:
See, this kind of attitude is what I'm talking about!
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I think he means that, despite some women looking closer to Barbie than others, Barbie's actual proportions are not humanly possible. For instance Barbie's waist is smaller around than her head, and she has a smaller waist than Dita Von Teese does when she's wearing a corset. Barbie's legs are 50% longer than her arms, while the average woman has legs that are only 20% longer.

While I don't support mocking, or otherwise harassing, anyone for their body-type, I also don't think it's unfair to point out that Barbie doesn't exist in real life.

The defense that Barbie's designers gave for her proportions was
What's your stance on Barbie's proportions?
Barbie’s body was never designed to be realistic. She was designed for girls to easily dress and undress.
So to get the clean lines of fashion at Barbie’s scale, you have to use totally unrealistic proportions?
You do! Because if you’re going to take a fabric that’s made for us, and turn a seam for a cuff or on the body, her body has to be able to accommodate how the clothes will fit her.
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Barbie is a doll, not a human, and even her makers admit that she's made the way that she is in order to make doll clothes work.
 
WasabiPoptart

WasabiPoptart

I thought it was funny. I like kitties though so I'll pretend to be mad and get more kitty pictures!


Maybe I should have kept that thought in my head.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
David said:
Eh, I was attempting to be funny, but it wasn't working. Apologies and kittens
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I missed the humor, sorry, but I wasn't offended. I thought the statements were a little odd, but I've seen enough random hate on the internet that I figured that maybe you had known some people attacked for their appearance. I certainly know people who have gotten hate for just being the size they naturally are.
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

I know you intended it as a joke, but He-Man actually carries some of the exact same problems.

Men are starting to become just as pressured as women about their looks.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
Bowielee said:
I know you intended it as a joke, but He-Man actually carries some of the exact same problems.

Men are starting to become just as pressured as women about their looks.
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I've been searching for references on a study that showed that men are suffering from, or finally admitting to, body image issues in increasing numbers.

Personally, I was in my twenties before I learned that women can be sexually attracted to the male body. Up until then, I honestly thought that women were, at best, indifferent to the nude male form. I thought they liked suits and pretty faces, but otherwise were attracted to what a man could do, not what he looked like, (and I'm not the only guy who grew up thinking this way.) Up until my ex-fiancee managed to drill it into my head that some women actually want to have sex with men and see them nude, I never worried about body image, because what was the point? I hated my body, but mostly because it was sick and I didn't know why, but I figured it would all be okay as soon as I was healthy, and had a job, etc. Now I struggle with moderate body image issues. Even though I've started to realize that women do like male bodies, I still haven't been able to shake my long held belief that no woman would be interested in my body.
 
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