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Pisces"Little Mermaid" Makes Girls Hate Themselves
Michele Berg: Am I the only one who's seen this "Ariel" doll that Disney is selling? (Granted she's a mermaid, so she's half fish, but let's talk about the human half.) Her bizarrely thin waist makes my heart ache for the millions of girls who will look at it, day after day thinking how beautiful Ariel's body is. At first, they will look down at their own stomach and wonder why it does not look like that. Later, they will hate themselves for it.
We all know that virtually every Barbie or princess doll has a ridiculously unattainable figure, but this? How in good conscience could Disney sell this doll?
What can we as mothers do?
1) Talk about it. Disney doesn't put an age restriction on this doll, so you shouldn't put an age restriction on talking about it. You can tell your 3 to 5-year-old that some dolls can make people feel bad about themselves: some people think they're supposed to look like her, but no one can. Tell her your family believes that everyone's body is different and that is ok. Ask your five-to-ten-year-old questions: "What do you think of this doll's body?" "Do you think that is what real women's bodies should look like?" Ask a pre-teen, "Do you think it's fair that toy companies make dolls that look like that?" If she says no, ask her, "Why not?"
2) Take action / Be political. Write a letter to the company with your daughter. Help her articulate out loud why she thinks the company is wrong to make such a product. Help your daughter take a position against girls having to measure up to unattainable expectations.
Don't let big companies lull you into thinking, "that's just the way it is." Help your daughter fight the oppressive body restrictions of our culture by talking about them and acting against them. Remember: it's not just a doll, it's a message.
Some think this concern is a little over the top. What do you think? DISCUSS!
 | Michele Maika Berg is a licensed marriage and family therapist and has a private practice in Los Angeles. She specializes in women's issues and eating disorders. Michele is married to writer/producer Alec Berg and has a six-year-old daughter who very proud of the fact that she can pogo stick 503 times in a row. |
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- 17 Comments
Ariel has always been, will always be my favorite disney princess, and no she does NOT make me hate myself. she shows how it is ok to be different, to want to be different. if a child is concerned about her body image, i hardly believe ariel is to blame…
I showed this to my 9 year old (who LOVES Ariel…her favorite disney princess) and she thought she just looked really weird and did not like it at all! I agree with Galindarielle that if this causes your daughter to have bad self-esteem then it’s more than just this doll to blame but you have to admit that this doll is totally
freaky looking.
Ok so this may sound bad but, if your child is upset because they don’t look like Ariel, then there is more than weight issues. She is a mermaid!!!! Look the doll has no legs and feet!! It is a doll. It is the parents responsibility to make sure the child does not have weight issues, not a doll.
Oh my!
That’s beyond death thin!
It’s not the waist though,sexy women have red hair!Ginger girls are hot!Their “strawberries and cream” skin is a big plus too!Plus a soft voice is heaven (not that scratchy voice some women have)
But the waist no,too thin ,much too thin.You can’t have babies with that waist,plus where are her hips.Hips are sexy!
Wow! Thank you for sharing and expressing your concern.
The doll is ugly. My 7 year old thought she was so cute…
Disney as a whole goes down a lot of bad paths as a company. Their TV Shows, their princess culture, how about Halloween in April which started Easter Sunday…
I have two little girls who are like sponges about body image. We need some balance and a reality check in what they promote on their shows and with their dolls.
Ugh. And I thought those America’s Next Top Model dolls were bad enough. How on earth are girls supposed to grow up with a realistic sense of what they “should” look like with society shoving junk like this in their faces?
These are DOLLS. They are NOT role models. They are an exaggeration of the human body.
I bet you’re going to say next that the Bratz dolls make girls jealous b/c they don’t have big heads.
Sorry, but I don’t get this argument at all.
Hmmm… this doll just seems deformed. My daughter has an older version of Ariel and she does not look like that. I’m not sure what the manufacturers were thinking, because it’s not even attractive. It’s just creepy.
I bought an Ariel doll maybe two months ago and it looked nothing like this. Where was this doll purchased. It’s insane.
Ariel does seem to “embody” certain values that would have girls focus on body and beauty, unlike the dolls for boys that more often encourage action and adventure.
Thank you, Ms. Berg, for shedding light on a very important issue. It is an indisputable fact that media has the power to negatively affect a girl’s body image. Dolls and toys are no different. The pressure to be thin starts young. If toy manufacturers will not behave responsibly, the burden falls on parents to express their outrage to the offending corporations and to engage their children in candid, age-appropriate dialogue.
Thank you to Michelle Maika Berg for once again giving me a wake up call. As she did in a previous article about toddler beauty pageants, Ms. Berg accurately describes the unattainable image of perfect outer beauty that our culture painfully overvalues. Those who have commented above that it could not be one single doll that causes our girls to question their own beauty, are missing the point. This doll is just one example of the unrealistic, and unattainable model of female beauty that young girls confront every day. These images come from tv, toys, magazines, avatars, and many more overt and subtle avenues. It is very difficult as a mother to counter balance these ideals that are coming at our girls from every direction. I will use this well written article as a jumping off point for what I hope to be an important, ongoing conversation with my daughter.
My opinion: It is a DOLL based on a CARTOON…neither of which are REAL. It is our jobs as parents to instill values in our children, as well as the ability to distinguish real from made up. We can complain all we want and we can’t change the media but we CAN change what we teach our kids. Let’s give our kids the RIGHT idea.
“If toy manufacturers will not behave responsibly, the burden falls on parents to express their outrage to the offending corporations…”
Whatever happened to just not buying the product if you have reservations with it? I had GI Joes and Star Wars figures growing up; never once did I suffer from poor self esteem because I wasn’t ripped or lacked the ability to choke people with my mind. If your child is that disconnected from reality, that failure falls on the parents who never set their children right in the first place.
i love this with my heart
Well written. I will certainly share this article with my colleagues. Thank you for the information.
Wow. I didn’t think they could actually make a doll skinnier then she looked in the movie.