On November 18, my RA, Julie Eller, planned a floor program called “Barbie Bash,” where my floor as well as friends from other floors and buildings were invited to D200 to make our own “Barbie Dolls” that look however we perceive ourselves. So, we all crowded into our common room, drew mini versions of ourselves, cut them out, and colored whatever outfits, hair, or facial expressions we wanted on them. I ended up drawing the outfit I planned on wearing the next day on my Barbie!
The purpose of this program was to promote a movement of “Realistic Barbies” and to encourage girls to embrace their own beauty, rather than being discouraged by Barbie’s unrealistic proportions. Julie showed us articles and videos during our program that showed a real young woman’s body proportions compared to that of Barbie, which were way too small to actually survive as a human. In reality, if Barbie and her proportions were real, she would not be able to hold her head up right, lift heavy objects, or walk on two legs. Therefore, this movement is spreading across the nation, and has even resulted in the creation of the “Lammily doll,” which has the average proportions of a 19-year-old girl. The creator of these dolls has a goal of showing girls of this age and even younger that there is nothing wrong with not being of Barbie’s size, because it is simply impossible.
This program spoke to every single one of us, as we are all of similar ages on my floor, new college students surrounded by new people and perceptions of ourselves, and everyone, at some point, has had self-doubt about their own appearance. By creating our own doll and taking a picture with it afterwards, it opened my eyes to how special it is for everyone to be unique and beautiful in our own way. Barbie Bash was one of my favorite floor programs, and after this program Julie posted Selfies of each of us without makeup on and left paper underneath each one. Everyone left comments about each other, and reading the ones under my picture were so thoughtful and made me really feel great about myself. I look forward to the programs we have on our floor next semester and am thankful that Julie has such great ideas that bring people together!