Turn me into a ‘BARBIE’
The desire of every young girl, her 1st wish, is to own a Barbie! According to the research by SSEDC (South Shore Eating Disorder Collaborative), there are two Barbie dolls sold every second in the world, making it a $1.5 billion/year industry, targeting young girls aged 3-12 years. She is the epitome of perfection. From a very young age the image of Barbie impacts the child’s idea of self image which practically is a very bleak notion of it. She visualizes herself as a girl whose 5’9” tall, have a 39” bust, an 18” waist, 33” hips and a size 3 shoe!
To reach her goal she tries every possible way. Exercising, dieting, slimming programs, medicines and what not. The pressures of adhering to the codes of beauty most of the times lead the innocence into depression, not just hampering their lives but also the lives of their near and dear ones. For a while, they completely ignore the fact that physical charms are transient. They are bound to fade over a period of time and run after it like a person in a desert runs after a mirage. True to its fate, she finds nothing but disappointment. Let us look at the factors that encourage such bleak understanding of beauty. The glittery world of paparazzi & the puppets of artifice are the biggest contributors of this facade. The foundation of our role models is based on how they look. Be it a male or a female, no-one can escape the fashion police. A National award winner is judged on her weight and her attires. Another is praised for her size 0 figure, the first question to pop is about her “vital stats”. How do we cherish beauty!! The success of a movie depends on that one bikini shot which grabs all the attention that was the property of the script. No actor can survive without a six pack abs.
And we talk of presenting reality on the big screen. The cosmetic brigade is the 2nd most benefitted industry. After all, they help us in getting that perfect “10 on 10” skin score and turns us into racist. With their ‘white is nice, black is evil’ scheme. The products become our magic wand to delude the world. What about the medical field? The doctors are elated to impart their knowledge in prosthetics. Almost every top actress and actors have visited their shrine and they always succeed in shocking us with their “then and now” pictures.
How the notions of beauty change. The reactions against these farcical ideas have started to emerge. With their slogans of “black is beauty and curves are good”, they’re screaming for realism. Asking for a world where virtues are the beauty of a lady, not just her physical appearance; where actresses don’t need to shed their weight in order to give good performance and where love can happen between a fat girl and a handsome boy. I know the medical industry and cosmetic industry will despise me for my ideas, as they will suffer a slump in their earnings but, let us not entangle ourselves with the idea of beauty when we are graced with so many other things to focus and turn our attention to.
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About the Author: This article is contributed by Vaishali Soni, our Intern. Vaishali is pursuing English Hons. from Delhi University and she loves to sketch, dance and listen to music. She believes that if our ideas are radical enough to bring a change then we should make an attempt to spread them.
