Over the past couple of decades, body expectations have become their most unrealistic, causing thousands of people to develop issues with their body image. Studies have been done to test whether the Barbie Doll, or ultra- thin, unrealistically shaped dolls in general, have a direct effect on one’s body image. I am studying the effect that Barbie specifically has on young girls’ mental health and body image because I want to see if they are indeed a direct result in the development of eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and overall self hate. To understand the correlation between girls’ playing with Barbie dolls and the eventual result in them disliking their changing bodies and developing eating disorders, we have to consider Barbie’s original intent of impacting children and how that changed after the doll began setting unrealistic body standards and expectations because of the her perfect body, and the body in which young girls wish to achieve, or may feel expected to have. Another large negative impact of Barbie on society is the influence of the dolls’ perfection on plastic surgery. Because of some extreme desire to look like Barbie, some spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to alternate their looks to closely appear as Barbie. After doing research, I found that Barbie actually does contribute to all of these problems, and these problems may never be able to be fixed.
Author: ARIA MALOVANY
Aria Malovany Reading Response 12/1
- After reading Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz and familiarizing myself with Ede’s method, I revised my paper to give more credit to my sources. Although I cited the websites in a bibliography, I hardly gave my articles credit in the words of my paper. I also decided to change some words in my essay to make it less similar to the words of the article, although I am highlighting the same point. I also now understand that quoting a source is for its well-written language or complicated concepts, but also for agreeing or disagreeing with an author.
- According to Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz, academic integrity is defined as giving your sources credit when using their information. This will enhance your ethos. If you find yourself stuck on trying to paraphrase something that the author said perfectly, just quote their words to provide the best information and credibility possible for readers. Plagiarism happens if you’re not careful which can create the ethical issue, said by Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz, of claiming another’s work as your own.
Aria Malovany Discussion Question 11/29
“That thinking made me say no — from now onwards, I’ll be writing in my mother tongue …” Ngugi argues that people should be able to write in their native language regardless of the relationships of power between languages. I agree with this as one shouldn’t have to conform to societal preferences when writing. One should be able to write freely about whatever they want, however they want, in whichever language they prefer. It is better to preserve a culture’s history by encouraging writers to work in their home languages. Rushdie states that Indian children are able to use English easily because of “the English language’s enormous flexibility and size.” But in Indian children using English to their advantage, it lessens the value that speaking in their home language has. The mass use of the English language emphasizes its significance in the world, but I don’t think any cultures should have to rely on English or feel that they must speak English when they can stick with their home language. The only other language I can write in is Hebrew and I do not ever feel discouraged to write in it. Writing in Hebrew actually gives me a sense of confidence because since I’m not required to write in it anymore, it’s a good feeing to know I still have those skills outside of my prior Jewish schooling.
Aria Malovany Peer-Reviewed Outline
Anschutz, Doeschka. .., and Rutger C. M.E. Engels. “The Effects of Playing with Thin Dolls on Body Image and Food Intake in Young Girls.” Sex Roles, vol. 63, no. 9-10, Springer US, 2010, pp. 621–30, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9871-6.
- Abstract
Paragraph 1- This is a study on 6-10 year old dutch girls to test if their playing with thin dolls has an affect on their body image and food intake. After 10 minutes of them either playing with a thin doll, an average sized doll, or a lego, they did a taste test and took a questionnaire about their body image.
- Introducion
Paragraph 2- little is known about the effects thin dolls have on young girls which is why this study is being done. Researchers already know that body image issues have arised from young girls watching television.
Paragraph 3- Many studies done in Western societies show issues with body image in young girls. Media teaches the young that bigger people don’t have friends and ugly people are considered bad whereas thin and nice looking people are considered good.
Paragraph 4- Thin dolls like Barbie set an unrealistic standard for young girls and convince them that Barbie’s body is normal and what their bodies should look like.
Paragraph 5- A study was done in girls ages 5-8 in the UK on the effect Barbie has one their body image. Studies show that girls under 7.5 use Barbie as a norm as their body image is still developing. There were no effects found in girls above the age of 7.5 playing with Barbies on their body image.
Paragraph 6- This study was made to replicate and extend the one done in the UK. In the Uk study, pictures of the dolls were used. In the study on dutch girls, they were to use actual dolls. This study also involved a food intake part to test if girls’ body dissatisfaction has an effect on their eating.
Paragraph 7- Girls either played with a thin doll, an average sized doll, or a lego for 10 minutes and then were given a taste test as a measure of actual food intake.
Hypothesis 1- girls who play with thin dolls will have lower body esteem compared to those who played with the average size doll or the lego. Younger girls would report a lower body esteem than older girls. Average size doll and lego won’t negatively impact body esteem.
Hypothesis 2- girls who play with the thin dolls will report an actual-ideal body size discrepancy compared to tier girls who played with the average sized doll or the lego. Younger girls would report a larger body actual-ideal body size discrepancy than older girls.
Hypothesis 3- Girls who play with the thin dolls would eat less than the girls that play with the average sized dolls or the lego. The younger girls would eat less than the older girls after playing with the thin dolls.
- Method
Paragraph 8- 117 girls were involved in this study. The mean age of the sample was 8.04
Paragraph 9- The girls either played with a Barbie doll which represented a UD size 2, an Emme doll which represented a US size 16, and another doll that is comparable to the height of the Emme doll and very slim like Barbie.
Paragraph 10- The girls were given 9 female body silhouette drawings ranging from very thing to very large to compare the dolls bodies to the silhouettes. They were also given a Visual Analogue Scale to see the extent of thinness the girls considered the dolls.
Paragraph 11- a response format was used with pictures of smiley’s where the girls had three response options; no, in between, and yes. They were scored with a 0, 1 or 2, respectively. Facial pictures were used to illustrate the response options.
Paragraph 11- the girls were asked to indicate which of the 9 drawings of female bodies looked the most similar to their current bodies and their ideal body shape.
Paragraph 12- during the taste test, the girls could freely eat from three bowls of chocolate covered peanuts, Their food intake was measured with a professional scale.
Paragraph 13- BMI was calculated based on height and weight
Paragraph 14- Girls were asked how hungry they were before beginning the test.
Paragraph 15- Girls were presented with a Visual Analogue Scale to measure if they liked the test food.
Paragraph 16- The girls were asked whether or not they owned a Barbie at home
Paragraph 17- The girls were asked how often they play with Barbie’s.
Paragraph 18- The girls were asked if they enjoyed being a part of the experiment.
- Procedure
Paragraph 19- Parents were fully informed about why this study was being done and asked whether their child could participate in the study or not.
Paragraph 20- girls playing with Barbies were asked to dress Barbie for a party so that they would be exposed to her naked body. After 10 minutes, the girls were given a questionnaire concerning body esteem Afterwards, the girls were presented with three bowls of chocolate covered peanuts with a different color in each bowl. They were asked to evaluate the chocolate covered peanuts to see which color tasted the best.
- Preliminary analysis
Paragraph 21- No real differences were found between the Barbie doll and the tyler doll so those conditions were combined. No effects were found in the playing of Barbies/Tyler dolls on body esteem
Paragraph 22- Girls were split by if they were over 7.5 or under.
- Results
Paragraph 23- No differences were found between Barbie and the Tyler doll on the figure rating scale and the VAS slimness, so the conditions were combined into a single thin doll condition for analysis.
Paragraph 24- The body esteem of the girls did not differ between the three conditions. No main effect was found in age group either. Therefore, hypothesis 1 was not supported.
Paragraph 25- Playing with thin dolls vs average size dolls did not alter the actual-ideal body size discrepancy. There was no effect found in age group either. Therefore, hypothesis 2 was not supported.
Paragraph 26- Girls ate less after exposure to thin dolls than after exposure to average sized doll. There was no effect in age group. Hypothesis 3 was somewhat supported in that girls ate less after playing with thin dolls, but there was no effect in age difference.
Paragraph 27- No interaction effects were found in body esteem and owning a Barbie. No interaction effects were found in body esteem and time spent playing with Barbie. No interaction effects were found in body esteem and how much the girls like being a part of the experiment.
- Discussion
Paragraph 28- the most important thing found was that girls who played with thin dolls ate less in their food-test.
Paragraph 29- There was no effect found in peking with Barbie on young girls body esteem and dissatisfaction. Since the girls had physical control of the dolls rather than looking at the image, it led to no direct causation on their body esteem because they were in control.
Paragraph 30- Perhaps the girls were inspired by Barbie to achieve her thinness by not eating in the taste-test. Maybe the girls who played with the Emme doll felt more free to eat as its size provides a norm regarding food intake.
Paragraph 31- The Emme doll may have had a relief effect and freed the girls from any dietary restraints.
Paragraph 32- A suggestion for another study might be to use girls who have never been exposed to these thin dolls before and do the same tests on them also involving food intake.
Paragraph 33- Future studies could also use a different measure of body esteem to see how consistent the present findings with regard to body esteem are.
Paragraph 34- This study was meant to look at the effects of thin dolls on body esteem but at the end of the day, the only information derived is that the girls who played with the thinner dolls ate less.
Key phrases: Barbie doll, Emme doll, thin dolls, body esteem, bod image, food intake
Aria Malovany 11/15 Reading Response
- One way I practice crap detection is by pre-ordering my Starbucks instead of ordering it in the store. When I order in advance from my phone, it avoids the chance of the cashier getting my order wrong. Many times, the cashier hears you wrong and you have to give your drink back to get it done right which not only takes longer, but is so much more annoying. By ordering in advance, my order is correct, my name is correct, and I get an estimated time of when it will be ready, rather than potentially having to wait a while after ordering moments before. Ordering on my phone guarantees no line, no interactions, and is overall quicker, easier, more efficient, and rules out any “crap” I may have had to face if not for this system.
- A tool that will stick with me through my research is to try to stay unbiased about my topic. Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz explain that no matter how comprehensive and straight up you are about your research and sources, there will always be a sense of opinion after a writer explains their research in their own words. I will do this by having many reliable sources to or from so that I leave less room for opinion and more for facts.
- One past tool I have been taught about writing that I now see as unhelpful is not using first person. In my literature classes from high school, my teachers didn’t want us to use first person at all. They wanted an essay about the topic, not an opinion, unless stated. Now that I’m taking a writing course rather than literature, I realized that using the first person is very important when getting into personal matters. I don’t think a persuasive personal paper would be productive without using first person.
- Regular milk tastes better in coffee than any other milk alternatives. Society in recent years has been convinced that nut milks and milk alternatives will change your life and that they taste better. Through my own experiences and trials, I have come to the conclusion that regular milk is ultimately better in every way. It doesn’t leave a weird aftertaste, whereas alternatives like almond milk and oat milk do, it doesn’t have a separation effect where milk particles separate from the coffee and require consistent mixing, and it froths the most compared to other milk alternatives which either hardly froth or don’t at all. My family stands behind the almond milk wave to which I am supportive of, but get frustrated with when there is no regular milk in the fridge. My sister is lactose intolerant which is a good reason to be a nut milk drinker, but her lactose intolerance is what led my family to love nut milk. They love it because it doesn’t cause any sort of an upset stomach, it is non-dairy, and they believe it tastes better. There are not many people I know that still drink regular milk, but I believe and probably always will believe that it is the superior option.
Aria Malovany Week 12 Reading Response
- A lot of times I think about having children and what their names could be. This always brings me online looking at loads of baby names. I find it very interesting to see the new names every year and how they get more different as years go on. The most popular name of the year always surprises me as well, but ultimately isn’t so unexpected.
- One experience from my everyday life is looking for graffiti on the streets. For my art history class, an extra credit assignment was offered where we had to explain the historical artistic context behind a piece graffiti. Because of that assignment, my eyes have been more observational of graffiti.
I continuously have been telling myself how much I like my new coat and how warm it keeps me. I find it interesting how similar so many coats look yet some are so much warmer than others. This Is due to the filling, but the question is raised when I look at everybody’s jackets.
Something new for me is walking to school. Before college, I had a car and drove to school so the cold never affected me too much. But now that I’m living in a walking city and I’m exposed to the weather a lot more, I wonder what can make my journey shorter.
- One notable thing I learn about research is that evidence may not always travel well from one field to another. When writing, I’m usually confident that when I’m finished, my readers will understand my sources, evidence, etc, for my arguments that I am trying to make. But it came to my attention while reading Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz that not everybody absorbs everything the same way and as much as my evidence makes sense to me, it may not to somebody else. This is important because I want to be able to reach all my readers in the same way. One way to help this is to find the perfect evidence, and explain it well.
Aria Malovany Reading Response 11/1
Yablonovoskiy’s family is from the Soviet Union. They raised him on their culture’s values and hated the modernity and values America had to offer them. Yablonovoskiy’s grandfather was relocated during the Holocaust. He survived but was placed in poor living conditions and experienced hardship as a result. Whenever Yablonovoskiy complains about something, his grandfather catches him and explains politely how much harder he had it at an even younger age. To wind down and relax, they would always watch a cartoon, Nu Pogodi. The wolf in the show represents the Soviet government and the bunny represents fugitives from the secret police. They very much enjoyed the political viewpoint the this show provided. Yablonovoskiy explains the strong connection between the Soviet government and the show. He also feels that the show was like an escape from reality and is a cultural text that he holds dear to his heart. The reality in the show helped viewers escape from the very different and worse reality they lived in. But ultimately, this show always brings his family together. Even though they don’t speak the same languages, they enjoy the show and the connection it brings them.
I completely understand the significance that this show plays in Yablonovoskiy’s life. My family and I have a lot of movies that we love watching together which connects us. Cultural artifacts/texts can often be shared by a group of people, not just individually. His persuasiveness about this cartoon really shows how much it means to him which is why it was productive for him to write about. In my analysis, I also analyze a movie scene which my family and I hold dear to our hearts, so I can definitely relate to his subject choice and the feelings that emerged from it.
Aria Malovany Week 11 Blog Post
I have been seeing this course positively impact my personal life. I’d like to start with the working playlist. I’ve gotten a lot of song recommendations from the in class working playlist. But otherwise, I have begun analyzing things around me without realizing it. The other day, I was just staring at my kitchen garbage can and thinking analytically about it. I have also been paying closer attention to details whether it’s when I’m reading, writing, or even just looking at something. I also very much look forward to this class as it is a class that actually keeps me interested, whereas other classes really don’t.
Aria Malovany Reading Response 10/27
1. Asians were discriminated against because of their stereotypes and continue to be today.
Media in America is discriminative against Asians and treat them unfairly/poorly.
Americans believed that Asians couldn’t properly assimilate which caused stereotypes.
- This is a controversial issue because although many Asians have assimilated in America, stereotypes still stand until today. Touching upon a discriminative topic will always provide some controversy as opinions and beliefs of readers vary.
- I felt that Chau’s argument about how Crazy Rich Asians reinforced the stereotypical difference between Asian and Americans was the strongest. He brought in quotes from the movie to support the struggle in Asian American assimilation. In the movie, the “American” character is considered foreign and selfish, whereas the true Chinese focus on family values. This was to support the character’s point about how she believes Americans and Asians cannot co-exist.
- In 1848, the Chinese flooded America because of the gold in California, resulting in some Americans opportunities and jobs being taken. At this point in time, it must’ve been very frustrating to have a bunch of immigrants taking the places of Americans. This led Americans to get angry and spread rumors about Asians about them being an undesirable race, and how they were incapable of assimilating. I can understand how that could’ve had long term effects on Americans, but the anti-immigrant and anti-assimilating claims should not stand today.
- One thing I wondered from reading and answering the questions is when will these stereotypes end? Asians have been living in America for quite some time now and seem to still get joked about, or more seriously, are genuinely disliked/hated. America should give up on the claim that Asians can’t assimilate properly because this claim just adds to the backlash Asians already receive while living amongst Americans.
Aria Malovany – A Business in my Neighborhood
In my neighborhood, this is an Italian restaurant called Al Di La. One of my favorite items on the menu is their salad pizza. This dish consists of the dough of a personal sized pizza cooked with a fresh zesty salad on top. When it’s cut into slices, a lot of the salad falls off as there is no sauce/adhesive to keep it on, but I don’t mind as it’s bursting with flavor regardless. I like to add feta cheese to the top to add even more flavor. My favorite aspect of the dish is how crispy the crust is and how I can feel the thin-ness of the crust since nothing is really cooked into the dough. Usually, cheese and sauce are cooked into the dough which can make it softer and less crispy, but in this salad pizza, the salad is placed atop the crispy thin bread.
If I was a psychology major, I would ask La Di La why they don’t have an adhesive for the salad. For the benefit of the customer, the salad on the pizza should stay on the pizza, not fall off. Maybe they could make the crust thicker or the crust borders taller so there is less salad loss. As a psychology major, maybe I’d ask customers how they feel when the salad falls off the bread and if it would be beneficial to add a sauce so this doesn’t happen. If I was a journalism major, I would explain the process of how this pizza is made and write in detail about the many flavors this dish has to offer. If I was a mathematics major, I would analyze the quantities of each ingredient that goes into the pizza and maybe find an adhesive for the salad and find the perfect ratio of sauce/dressing to the pizza.
Majors: Psychology, journalism, mathematics
Although I live in Manhattan now, I still consider “my neighborhood” the place I grew up. I didn’t think it was necessary to visit this restaurant as I’ve ordered this dish many times before. Right when I started writing, the details of the pizza immediately flowed to my head as I was reminded of one of my favorite foods.