Topic > Time Magazine Cover Discussion on Barbie

Final Rhetorical Analysis Since the early 1960s, Barbie hasn't changed much beyond changing into more modern clothes and different materials. If Barbie were a real woman, she would be approximately five feet nine inches tall, weigh one hundred and ten pounds, with an eighteen inch waist and a thirty-nine inch bust. These are very unrealistic measurements of a woman in today's society. In any society that has ever existed, for that matter. When, in 2015, Barbie was introduced with eight different skin tones, different facial features, different hair and eye colors, people expected more from Mattel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay On a recent cover of TIME magazine, Curvy Barbie made her big debut as the "new and improved" Barbie. The purpose of this dynamic change is so that new Barbies with different body types and new skin/hair tones can more naturally reflect the world of their young owners. On this cover you will also notice the sentence almost as large as the magazine title, “Now can we stop talking about my body?”. Watching it you may have felt empowered or proud of your unique body because Barbie's body is now realistic. I felt the same way. I have always been proud of my athletic build and thicker legs. However, thinking about this sentence, I'm not so sure they worded it as well as they could have. It's definitely a statement that captures people's attention and provokes deeper reflection. Through my own, deeper thought, I started to get angry about that big, black, bold statement on the cover. After a few minutes of reflection, I thought to myself, "Well yeah, it's great that they've been more adaptive and modern with this big change, but obviously we can't stop talking about Barbie's body!" Even when Barbie is curvy people can't stop talking about her body! While the intentions are good, this still bothers me. We live in a world where women's bodies are sexualized and subjectified. For example; the media is obsessed with Kim Kardashian's butt and latest plastic surgery and Angelina Jolie's plump lips. Feminists are emerging from the shadows and people everywhere are offended by every little thing that comes out of someone's mouth. Ultimately, this is a step in the right direction. but why focus exclusively on the body shape and physical nature of the beloved Barbie? Isn't this the goal? Not focusing on our appearances and loving someone for who they are, rather than their size? Let's talk about Barbie's dreams and ambitions. Is it driven? Do you have a thriving career and is this your passion? Do you take care of your body as best you can? Are you comfortable in your own skin? Looking at this cover, you wouldn't think Mattel cared about any of these factors, just Barbie's body. As members of society, we are not blind to the fact that women and men feel great pressure from these false standards of "Original". Barbie." As a girl who regularly played with Barbies during my adolescence, I never felt that kind of pressure from Barbie. I don't remember looking at Barbie and thinking of her as an object or a perfect body. Especially not I remember thinking badly of myself in later years because I didn't look like Barbie. I thought of my many Barbies as friends. I think there's a lot to be said for growing up in a home where my mother worked and was a very confident woman intelligent. NotI had reason to feel inferior about my body when I was older. I've never been 100 percent satisfied with my appearance, but I don't think Barbie plays that role in every girl's life. Statistically they might, but I might be the exception. There are many other factors that contribute to feeling confident and beautiful in your own skin, whether small, funky, curvy or tall. It's a foundation from which some girls can build their own view of their bodies, especially in this day and age. Another part of this argument is that it is a business tactic. Mattel's sales fell 20% after the popular Frozen doll, Elsa, was named the number one toy for girls. As a result, someone had to come up with something so good that they could be on top again. So here we are with small, curvy, original and tall Barbie. After losing $500 million you have to be creative to recover such a damaging loss. Thinking about how to introduce these names and new Barbies was no easy task. As mentioned above, the world we live in is becoming more and more sensitive. You have to walk on eggshells so as not to offend anyone or any group of people. The names of these Barbies recall the sections of a women's department, or the symbols and acronyms next to the size on a pair of jeans. Just like in department stores, you will need to choose and purchase specific clothes for your new barbies, as not all of them will fit the new body types. Since it is very realistic, I hope it conveys the message “different is beautiful” rather than “I need to buy bigger clothes for my Barbie!” The biggest downside, in my opinion, to this cover is that Barbies are still criticized for their body size and shape. The good thing this magazine offers is how different it actually is. This has never happened before! Barbie has put some meat on her bones and shows off her short, curvy legs on the TIME magazine runway for all the world to see. This isn't the only place she's done this, but people all over the world know this popular magazine, probably as well as they know Barbie. That said, I feel like they didn't have to make a big deal out of it. This just adds to the hype about women's bodies and puts it back into the media, front page and everything in between. Having just a small portion of TIME magazine (instead of four pages and the cover) or other national media might have been enough. Instead, the “new” Barbie has been exploited on billboards, in national and local news, in magazines and, I'm sure, on radio broadcasts around the world. This simply shows that people need the approval of fellow citizens, friends and people around the world. Making such a big statement was handled the same way as the latest celebrity sex tape released. I chose this cover as my medium because it's something that's a hot topic right now in the media. I like to think this will help girls bombarded by scale, magazine covers, commercials, songs and supermodels. Hopefully, Mattel's intentions, both commercially and for a revolutionary change to the "same old Barbie," will allow children who play with them to begin to develop a healthy body image and self-esteem when it comes to their appearance . found in the article linked to the cover, says that 85% of American girls (3-10 years old) own at least one Barbie doll. That's a huge portion of the population! This adaptation to society's view of women's bodies could have a great positive influence on girls. In a world where we talk about.