Barbie Makeover: Doll Gets Average Woman’s Proportions

Barbie has long been the epitome of beauty to little girls; tall, thin, tan, and blonde, with an impossibly tiny waist and perpetual high-heel shaped feet, she has set the standard for the all-America...
Barbie Makeover: Doll Gets Average Woman’s Proportions
Written by Amanda Crum
  • Barbie has long been the epitome of beauty to little girls; tall, thin, tan, and blonde, with an impossibly tiny waist and perpetual high-heel shaped feet, she has set the standard for the all-American girl for decades.

    But Barbie has come under fire in recent years for having a negative affect on the way little girls see themselves and who they aspire to be. With impossible measurements, the doll may be giving children the wrong idea about what a body is supposed to be. Now, an artist has created a 3-D model of a Barbie that has a normal 19-year old’s measurements, and is quickly gaining support for his vision.

    Nickolay Lamm took an actual Barbie doll’s measurements, researched the average body type for a young woman, and made a new doll that looks a lot more realistic. And while he says he understands that the “average” body type is a widely varied thing, the new version is a lot closer to what a woman looks like than the former.

    “I created normal Barbie because I wanted to show that average is beautiful,’’ Lamm told TODAY.com. “If average-looking Barbie looks this good and if there’s even a chance of Barbie negatively influencing young girls, why not make one?”

    While Mattel hasn’t announced any plans yet to introduce a Barbie with Lamm’s measurements, but if they do, she’ll be in high demand.

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