{"id":572,"date":"2011-10-18T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2011-10-18T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=572"},"modified":"2012-03-03T12:46:02","modified_gmt":"2012-03-03T17:46:02","slug":"wwbd-what-would-barbie-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/wwbd-what-would-barbie-do.html","title":{"rendered":"WWBD? What Would Barbie Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Some feminists believe playing with Barbie leads to body dissatisfaction and the desire for breast implants.<\/p>\n<p>Now I know some of you are thinking, <em>Oh come on, she\u2019s only a harmless doll. An icon from the twentieth century. It\u2019s not like she\u2019s Chucky! Let her play in peace! Put on her Pilates outfit and let\u2019s all calm down!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Well, we probably could if women in media looked less like dolls than people. Barbie is only one of a plethora of images young girls are exposed to daily.<\/p>\n<p>So if Barbie could speak her mind, here\u2019s what I think she would say. And since Barbie has over 100 careers, let\u2019s consult <em>Psychologist Barbie.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>First, she would administer a psychological battery of tests to all girls who played with her in order to ensure they aren\u2019t being harmed by her image. After scoring all the ink blots and noting no real harm comes from playing with her, she would schedule breast reduction surgery in order to avoid incredible back pain as she ages.<\/p>\n<p>Next, she would warn young girls about being too thin, reminding them that the thinness of her waist and hips creates physical problems. We all need some fat on our frames to keep the plumbing working well!<\/p>\n<p>Barbie would then set up a nonprofit arm of Mattel that would donate proceeds of her sales to eating disorder research, and she would most likely convert the Dream House to a group home for troubled girls. Regular group therapy would be held there in order to help girls deal with unrealistic body image. Community seminars would explain her evolution into a doll with more sensible proportions.<\/p>\n<p>Basically, if Barbie could speak, she would tell young girls, no one really looks like me so don&#8217;t even try! And we would call her, Redemptive Barbie!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some feminists believe playing with Barbie leads to body dissatisfaction and the desire for breast implants. Now I know some of you are thinking, Oh come on, she\u2019s only a harmless doll. An icon from the twentieth century. It\u2019s not like she\u2019s Chucky! Let her play in peace! Put on her Pilates outfit and let\u2019s&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914,918],"tags":[456,459,460,85,462,461,63,457,458,644,463,52,1036],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","category-relationship-to-food","tag-barbie","tag-body-dissatisfaction","tag-body-dysmorphic-disorder","tag-body-image","tag-body-proportions","tag-breast-reduction","tag-children","tag-dolls","tag-eating-disorders","tag-family-relationships","tag-girls","tag-parenting-2","tag-relationship-to-food-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WWBD? What Would Barbie Do?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/wwbd-what-would-barbie-do.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WWBD? What Would Barbie Do?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some feminists believe playing with Barbie leads to body dissatisfaction and the desire for breast implants. Now I know some of you are thinking, Oh come on, she\u2019s only a harmless doll. An icon from the twentieth century. It\u2019s not like she\u2019s Chucky! Let her play in peace! Put on her Pilates outfit and let\u2019s&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/10\/wwbd-what-would-barbie-do.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-18T12:00:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-03-03T17:46:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"WWBD? 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Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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