Abstract

Barbie has been the subject of many debates about body image dissatisfaction and the negative impacts this doll has on adolescent children; my thesis will expand upon this and explore the possibility that the Barbie Doll can create long lasting effects on women throughout their adulthood. This argument examines the scholarships which suggests that Barbie has negative effects on young children. I then conduct primary research in the form of detailed surveys with women aged twenty-one and over. Using this mixed methods approach, I determine whether or not the problems created by Barbie among young children will affect women in their teenage years and into adulthood. I am specifically looking at cross-sections within the lives of various women to see the perception of body image. By obtaining and analyzing this data, I form the conclusion that body image and its connection to early childhood play and engagement with the Barbie Doll does not create a body dissatisfaction among adults.

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