Week 7Final Paper

KIKi
DeVry University
Professor Mccabe
Humanities
October, 2013

The Paleolithic era was considered an era where women were strong and not judged on physical appearance. Back then the central thought dominating the society was the thought of survival and reproduction and the Paleolithic women played a very important part in that. If one has to look at a Venus de Willendorf Doll, the first thing that would be noticed is the size of the woman. The woman is robust and is without clothing or a face; this doll was made like this to show how little the importance of physical appearance was back then, when everyone was striving for survival. These dolls are not just pieces of art but they represent the history of women before our time, and they reveal to the modern society that the things which are important to us like appearance, fame, and fortune actually do not matter; but that the important thing is to protect one’s family and survive against all odds. Now- a-days it is the complete opposite. Instead of dolls that look like the Venus de Willendorf Doll, we have Barbie Dolls. The problem with this is the fact that Barbie Dolls have created a lot of problems for children. Barbie Dolls infused in young girls unrealistic expectations for life; it made girls think they had to look, live, and act in a certain way which is acceptable to the society.
Barbie Dolls were made to be teen fashion dolls but little did the manufacturers know that they would change the society forever. Barbie Dolls changed society in many ways. First of all, it infused in the minds of young girls unrealistic expectations about what they were supposed to look like further in life. Instead of modeling the dolls as representation of actual people the makers made them superficial. The reason Barbie Dolls instigated such unrealistic expectations regarding appearance is because; if they were to make a life size Barbie Doll she would have been then 5’9 and 110lbs, which is 35lbs below the standard weight. This is not a good message to send to young girls, because this is how eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia start to take over these girls’ lives. Another negative thing with Barbie dolls is the way the manufacturer keeps making different skin colors of the dolls without even trying to bring about any resemblance with the ethnicity they are actually trying to depict. They all look the same with just different skin tones, unlike the Venus de Willendorf Doll, which resembles the women of the concerned time period. Barbie Dolls that are supposed to be Hispanic or African American should look like them, so they should have curves and curly hair like that of a real African American or a Hispanic woman.
Another thing that Barbie Dolls do is undermining job value by making it look so easy to be anything you want. Of course young girls should know they can be whatever they want to be, but they must understand the importance of hard work which is needed to accomplish success and only just because you are beautiful does not mean you will get whatever you want.“Barbie’s first job was a fashion designer; she has since had over 100 different careers” (Cross, 2011). Such a career graph is unrealistic and nobody can have that many jobs in his/her life, and Barbie Dolls should not let young girls think that it is possible. Being professionals like doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. is very difficult and it takes time to attain perfection and succeed in such professions, and the way to success should not be taken lightly. As adults we know these things are very important and should not be considered lightly; but as kids we are amazed with what Barbie can do. It may seem okay because kids will learn the difference between right and wrong as they grow up, on the other hand Barbie is influencing their decisions as we speak. That is why the Venus de Willendorf Doll is such a great role model, because it represents women whose occupations were surviving and giving birth. These may seem like simple things but they are not. Hunting and gathering while raising a family was a painstaking and important job. Of course times have changed since then and women do much more. However, a career is much more than something that somebody does. It has a meaning and should be focused on thoroughly, unlike the Barbie Doll’s bifurcating professions.
The way a young girl acts in the world is an important thing; it decides how society perceives her. Even though Barbie is just a doll she still has a personality. The Barbie Doll does whatever she wants without a caring for the other views, and her main concern is to have fun. She dresses inappropriately, by wearing her bikinis and short dresses and skirts; and is always out with her friends having parties. To young girls her life may seem great and much joyous, but that should not be the life of a responsible adult. The Barbie Doll may be perceived as sweet and not harmful, but that is simply not true. Society may see her as perfect, even parents may like to think she is perfect; but being perfect is unrealistic and wrong. Imperfection is what makes us human, so why doesn’t Barbie show young girls that it’s okay not to be perfect and it’s okay to make mistakes. The Venus de Willendorf Doll is a great example of responsible woman, and it symbolizes how people make sacrifices for family, and how we should embrace imperfection.
There are many difference between Barbie Dolls and Venus de Willendorf Dolls; one show unrealistic expectations and the other shows us history and the nature of a real woman. Barbie dolls were made to sell and make money and they even changed society, as we know it. And the Venus de Willendorf Dolls were simply made to show how women looked back then, and they are now looked at upon as treasured art. Both of these dolls send messages to society, but it does not mean the message is good and it also doesn’t mean the message is even heard by the society. Some may not think of the Barbie doll in a critical manner. But time has shown us that a lot of society does think of the Barbie Doll in this manner. And young girls need role models, and Barbie is just not good enough because she simply is not realistic.

Week 4 Annotated Bibliography
For some, Barbie Dolls are considered a fun little doll children play with. But parents do not realize the effects Barbie dolls have on your children. Considering Barbie a role model as a perfect figure, young girls are in a perception to imply the same on themselves. Girls are adapting unusual eating habits in order to imitate or replicate Barbie doll. The attire of the doll is neither realistic nor healthy. The authors explain how there is a lot of controversy when it comes to the new Barbie dolls because they have different ethnicities now. But the reason there is controversy is because they look exactly like the normal Barbie doll but just different colors; this brings up a lot of arguments because each ethnicity has a special trait and Barbie refuses to show it because then the doll might not look perfect. But if Barbie really wants to make a statement they should start making dolls that look like real women instead of the unrealistic dolls, this will not only put parents’ mind at ease, but it will show girls what healthy women look like.

You think you know someone? KARI CROSS. (2011, July 07). Retrieved from http://countoncross.wordpress.com/tag/barbie-through-the-years

Kari Cross explains how you may think you know a lot about Barbie dolls, but you really do not know much about the history of it all. She explains the story of the life the actually Barbie doll had, she talks about how she had one brother and four sisters, she had was in love with Ken, she had many hobbies and basically how this doll became like this. But the way Barbie was actually named was by the creator’s Ruth ad Eliot. They had a daughter named Barbra and a son named Ken, which made them come up with Barbie and Ken. Throughout the years, the Barbie doll has changed dramatically. It is because they changed it to match each era and every new style that came out back then. They still do this with Barbie dolls today. Such as the original Barbie doll had brown hair and high arched eyebrows which was the style back then, in the 60’s she had a lot of different hairstyles, in the 70’s they completely changed her face structure, in the 80’s they began to have African American and Hispanic Barbie’s, and etc. So Barbie has made changes to make it look better, but not because they want little girls to look like that just because they would like little girls to want them more.
The Venus of Willendorf. Witcombe, C. L. C. E. (n.d.). Retrieved from ttp://72.52.202.216/~fenderse/Venus.htm Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe explains how the Venus Doll came to be. He explains many things such as she was the first image of a women and how if was founded in 1908, but it was made somewhere between 30,000-25,000 BCE. The Venus doll is not just prehistoric art that was found, but it also gave society an image of how women looked like in those times, and with all of that THE VENUS OF WILLENDORF became known as “The First Woman.” He explains how the name Venus came to be. The doll was originally named la poire - "the pear , because of the shape of the body the doll had; but was changed to describe the ivory on the figure and then it just stuck. The name change was so much more; it made her look more mundane rather than a goddess of some sort. The society was a matriarchal society and women had a very important role to play in shaping the society and hence the role of women in the society was not only influential but also very prominent.

References
Cross, K. (2011). Barbie through the years | COUNT ON CROSS. Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://countoncross.wordpress.com/tag/barbie-through-the-years/
Hunt, L. (2011). The Barbie Doll: Good, Imaginative Toy or Bad, Unhealthy Influence? - Speak Out - Wakefield, MA Patch. Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://wakefield.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/the-barbie-doll-good-imaginative-toy-or-bad-unhealthy-influence
Witcombe, C. L. (n.d.). The Venus of Willendorf. Retrieved October 10, 2013, from http://72.52.202.216/~fenderse/Venus.htm