"Barbie Girl" is a song in the bubblegum pop genre by the Danish dance-pop group Aqua, who released it in 1997 as their third single overall, and the first United Kingdom release. The song is included on the album Aquarium and was written by Claus Norreen and Søren Nystrøm Rasted after the group saw an exhibit on kitsch culture. The song topped the charts worldwide, particularly in European countries such as the UK, where it was a number-one hit for three weeks; it was also on top of the charts in Australia for the same length of time, and debuted and peaked at No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on 6 September 1997.

With anorexia and other eating disorders threatening more lives every year, researchers are exploring the effect that viewing pictures has on body image, since a flawed perception of the way we look is a primary cause of disordered eating. Research reveals that girls as young as five become concerned about their weight after viewing images of figures with unrealistic, thin bodies. The first study of its kind had children look at Barbie dolls to discover the impact of cultural ideals relating to weight on the very young.

More than 100 girls aged between 5 and 7 looked at books while being read a story about shopping and dressing for a birthday party. Some of the books showed images of Barbie dolls, while others showed pictures lacking depictions of people. It was found that girls who were exposed to the Barbie pictures reported less body esteem and a greater desire to be thin. Researchers concluded that early exposure to unrealistic pictures of too thin body shapes may damage a girl's body image. This, in turn, leads to the increased risk of eating disorders with cycles of weight gain and loss.

The study was headed up by Dr Emma Halliwell of the University of the West of England, along with Dr Helga Dittmar and Suzie Ives at Sussex University. Dr. Halliwell said that it was clear that the pressure to be thin starts younger than we had supposed. "We found that when the children were exposed to these images of Barbie, they reported more negative attitudes about their appearance," said Halliwell, a lecturer based at the university's Centre for Appearance Research. "Quite strikingly, when they were looking at the control images (the neural pictures) there wasn't a difference between the way they thought they looked and the way they wanted to look."

But, concluded Halliwell, after the children viewed the Barbie pictures, they wanted to be slimmer, making it apparent that the ideal body shape no longer bears any relationship to what doctors consider healthy. The fact is that were an average woman to mirror the proportions of a Barbie doll, she would need to grow 17 inches in height and have a body shape found in less than one in 100,000 women. At the same time, there is a documented trend of using thinner models in advertisements, with the average model about 20% underweight.

When one takes into the account the increase in publications aimed at teens and even preteens, these facts have frightening implications.

http://www.epigee.org/the-barbie-effect.html

http://www.5min.com/Video/History-of-The-Barbie-Doll-99795058

Barbies Quality

Barbie has been sold around the world. In America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and Russia etc. In these countries, these dolls vary in appearence. This has to do with the wealth of the country. If the country was a wealthy country eg. America, the Barbie would be made with great quality, if it was made in Russia, the Barbie would not be great quality.

Christmas Barbie

Here is a picture of Christmas Barbie. She came out on a special edition for the Christmas holidays. She wears a longs red dress with black lace, white fur and a black belt. She wears a white, furry hairband with a necklace and white long gloves. Her skin is tanned and she has black hair.

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Barbie Fashion Queen

This Barbie came out in 1963. She wore a striped gold and white one-piece swimsuit and a matching headscarf. She had a molted head with brown hair and a blue hairband. She had straight non-bendable legs and had painted facial features. She came with three wigs; blonde, black and brown. Each wig had a stand tobe put on.






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Miss Barbie

This is the first Barbie that was made with eyes that will open and close. She was made to look like Barbie was sleeping. She wore a pink swimsuit with pink frills at the bottom. She wore a pink wig which was removable and had short brown har with an orange hairband underneath. She also wore little flip flops. When you lay her down her eyes would close so she would look like she was sleeping. This product did not sell well because the doll scared children! But it is still a collectors item.








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