This is a Barbie doll. One way or another, us girls would have had a good few of these when we were young girls- to brush their waist-length natural blond hair, to stuff their little tiny hands into new pretty tight outfits, to guide them around our bedrooms that became their hottest shopping spots, to admire their undoubtedly beautiful faces, perfect makeup. I'm not going to lie, when I was in playschool, me and my friends would pretend we were Barbie dolls- we had Barbie diaries, Barbie watches, Barbie stationary, we would read Barbie magazine and wear pink clothes to death. Admittedly, we did want to be Barbies- but for crying out loud, we were 6 years old. I even had a 'Barbie' outfit- this consisted entirely of pink, and whenever I wore it I felt confident and pretty. Even today, wearing dresses and high heels gives me that very same feeling, but Barbie means not much to me now. I was a child, and I grew out of this phase, just like everyone else does at some stage.
This is a Lammily doll. This is rumoured to be the 'new' Barbie, and took the media by storm when the idea was first introduced. She is supposed to be the 'good' influence on young girls that play with this doll- she is based on the average height, weight, hair length+colour, and average shoe size of an American woman. She has a supposedly 'healthy' lifestyle, where she goes to work dressed professionally, keeps fit and loves animals. She wears minimal makeup and looks natural, dresses casually.
The Lammily doll was created using 'standard human body proportions', to avoid the increase of eating disorders and other body image related problems in tween to teenage girls. The Lammily slogan is 'Average is Beautiful', all in aid of making normal sized girls feel normal, they way they should. The Lammily doll is supposed to be their icon, the doll that revolutionizes the way girls think about their bodies.
Above are images of the ordinary Barbie and the Lammily doll, side by side. The Barbie doll is much more prettier than Lammily, undoubtedly- thin, fragile, tall body shape, long thick blond hair, beautifully made up face. Barbie has a sense of fashion and style, right from her minature shoes to the tailoring on her clothes, even to the colour of her tiny nails. Lammily, however, is much more curvier than Barbie, her clothes are simple, basic- her curves are much more clear, she has large feet, makeupless face and shoulder length brown hair.
Firstly, I 100% understand where the concept of the Lammily doll has come from. It makes perfect sence to me why it would be put in production, but I think the marketing scheme has been handled terribly. The Lammily doll is not the 'new' Barbie- it is simply a new doll put on the market, with a new idea and lots of talk about it. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Barbie. Why not have a go at Bratz dolls then too? Their heads are larger, they are shorter, wear more makeup and are more into fashion than Barbie is- surely they're the partying, hardcore versions of Barbie, the ones we should be having a go at for being unrealistic.
When the Lammily doll does come into production, no one is going to buy this doll. Regardless of the kind-hearted concept behind this doll, no 5 year old girl is going to stroll into Smyths, drool through shelves of pristine, perfect, pretty Barbies and Bratz dolls and whatever else and choose the Lammily doll. 'Simplicity is Beauty' - that may be the case, if you're Cara Delevingne. The Lammily doll isn't attractive- she isn't pretty, her clothes are not in fashion, she is chubby and short and does not compare to the gorgeousness of Barbie. Regardless of the marketing plots behing Lammily, a child would never be happy with this doll. When I was 6, I was superficial- just like everybody else my age. It wasn't substance for me, it was purely style. If it looked good, had some pink, it did the job- and Lammily is the opposite of that. In comparison to Barbie, she looses in every category.
However, the slogan annoys me so much. 'Average is Beautiful' - fair enough, but is that to say that if I'm over or under a certain 'average' height, shape or size, that Ii'm not normal? What even is average in today's society? There is no normal, and there never was and never will be! Thanks to body modifications, plastic surgery, and even clothes, people wear whatever they wear. And to excuse my language, I don't really give two craps whether my body or what I look like is average or not. Average is not beautiful- believing in yourself, achieving goals, having confidence and expressing yourself through clothing or by other means is beautiful.
Barbie is a doll, a fantasy, a figment of someone else's imagination. She was created to be admired, to be called pretty, to look delicate as she sat poised on your shelf, not be striven to be. She is the perfect unrealistic version of a girl, created to be admired and looked at, not held as an icon, not idolised. If girls wanted to look like a Barbie doll, peroxide would never last for more than 2 minutes on a shop shelf. The Lammily doll sets the law for what is average and normal- and if we stick to what is average and normal, then creativity, self expression and other means of art will never thrive.
Remember this is only my own opinion :)
Thanks for reading!
My Twitter- @gabysayshey
Gaby x
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