The Barbie doll has been repeatedly accused of imparting warped ideas of body image to young girls. Its tiny waist, huge bust, gigantic eyes, and stick-thin legs are nowhere near the proportions of a real woman, and according to The Independent, a human being with the doll’s proportions would have half a liver and be forced to walk on all fours.
Junior Kaela Brown recognizes the harm that a Barbie doll can inflict upon a young, impressionable girl.
“I think Barbie really sets a bad example and makes girls feel terrible about themselves,” said Brown. “It makes them think that they have to be really skinny, or that they have to meet certain requirements in order to be the person that they should be.”
Despite the widespread disapproval of the Barbie doll’s influence, no efforts have been made to combat the negative stereotype that Barbie presents — until now.
Meet the Lammily doll, the fashion doll with the body proportions of the average 19-year-old female, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control. Designed by 25-year-old Pittsburgh artist Nickolay Lamm, the Lammily doll carries the motto “Average is beautiful.” Lamm says on his website that the doll promotes a healthy lifestyle, is “fit and strong,” and dresses sensibly, wearing minimal makeup.
Lizzy Butler, a junior, supports the idea behind the Lammily doll and thinks that it will help to repair some of the Barbie doll’s damage.
“It will make girls see that it’s okay not to be stick-thin,” Butler said, “and it’s okay to be normal like everyone else.”
According to the Daily Titan, Lamm began his project to create a realistic fashion doll last year, when he posted online a picture of what Barbie would look like with average female measurements. The image went viral, and Lamm was encouraged to produce such a doll. On March 5, he launched a Kickstarter page to raise $95,000 to fund the project, and had already made over $106,000 the next day. As of March 21, he has raised $455,180 and has over 12,000 backers.
According to Jewish News Weekly, the dolls are currently being offered to backers on the crowd-funding platform Crowdtilt. The first edition of Lamilly is white and has brown hair, but Lam has his intention to create Lammily dolls of different ethnicities.
Though the first Lammily dolls will not be ready for shipment until November 2014, the idea of this unique toy is already creating a positive buzz.
I think it will help girls have more self-confidence,” said Brown, “and help them to know that they can be themselves.”
Hear what Butler said with the link below:
http://sound cloud.com/schubertk/lizzy-