How Barbie doll does promote traditional gender roles., effect on Essay

How Barbie doll does promote traditional gender roles., effect on gender behavior - Essay Example She is used to illustrating the personal variations on general common gender themes occurring because numerous forces influence all individuals. Barbie Doll is perhaps used to show that gender is significant and paramount to the identity of an individual. Gender is embodied and lived by everyone all the days of his or her lives. As such, it can be argued that gender is both an individual construction as well as is learnt by way of social arrangement and order, which promotes the persuasive standards of being male and female. In fact, the Barbie doll has been described as the toy that was designed and made for women to enlighten women about what the society expects from them. Some schools of thought assert that Barbie doll has significant issues that surround femininity and gender ideals. In fact, Barbie doll can be described to be the perfect representation of female sexuality as viewed by the society and as perpetuated by the media (Bothell 17). Gender specific behavior is a result of both nature and socialization. The society, largely, dictates how men and women perceive themselves. Both the male and female in the society identify the â€Å"self† as composed of both the individual and the society. Barbie doll depicts this kind of societal influence just too well. She imitates the female personality. She is used to representing the woman in the society who functions as a self-imaging tool. Perhaps a major impact that she has on body image representation is that her body has a general human body form. Perhaps to show that gender specific behavior is influenced by socialization and nature, one only needs to look at Barbie’s audience-children. Many academics believe that children are the most vulnerable to unhealthy body images that the doll projects (Bothell 61). Socialization occurs when children play. They need an internal representation that could as well be assumed to be true to all males and females