#YouCanBeAnything

Barbie is sometimes criticized for unrealistic beauty standards. Their dolls are not at all to scale of the human body- if the doll were human size, her intestines wouldn't all fit inside her. Some believe that this fact gives off the message to young girls that they should be unnaturally skinny. Although Barbie is such a huge brand, there are still these "non-believers." One of my good friends has a mom who is one such person. My friend never had Barbies as a child because her mom believed that it sent the wrong message to young girls. I can see how this is true, but Barbie isn't all bad.

I was an avid fan of Barbie as a child and would love my child to have Barbies, if I ever have one. Contrary to my friend's mom's opinion, I don't believe that Barbies give off completely unhealthy messages. When I played with Barbies as a child, I don't remember ever thinking to myself that I wanted to look like a stick-thin doll with permanently raised feet. Granted, now that I've taken a class that involves learning about implicit messages, I do acknowledge that the image of Barbie can leave a (sometimes unhealthy) imprint on children's minds. But I'm not here to bash Barbie and that's not what you should be here to read about. I am here to discuss their relatively new ad campaign, "You Can Be Anything."

When I first saw this commercial, I thought it was cute, yet also very empowering. This commercial is all about what a young girl can become; if she can dream it, she can do it. I feel that this commercial really exposes the hopefulness that little kids have. It reminds adults who see this of their childhood dreams, of that time in their lives when they believed they could be anything.

The ad starts out with the question, "What happens when girls are free to imagine they can be anything?" In a society with sexist images bombarding us at all angles, this question really opens up that conversation. You know, that conversation about women doing any job, and the many opinions that come along with this topic. I feel that it's very important and significant that Barbie is addressing this issue with positivity. The little girls featured in this ad are seen performing their dream jobs, while adults seem mildly amused at the seriousness with which these girls are doing their "jobs." An interesting thing to point out is that all of the jobs that the girls are performing are not typically associated with only one gender, except maybe the men's soccer team coach. The other jobs featured are a professor, a veterinarian, a business-person, and a museum tour guide. Barbie didn't include stereotypically female jobs, such as a nurse or a secretary. But they also didn't go too far into stereotypically male jobs, such as a firefighter or a policeman. Now, I'm not saying that women can't be nurses because it's too "girly" and I'm definitely not saying that women can't be firefighters, so no one needs to get their panties in a bunch. My point is that the jobs they chose to show are pretty neutral, in terms of gender. I admire and appreciate this aspect of the ad.

The ad ends with the line, "When a girl plays with Barbie, she imagines everything she can become." This line is a nice finishing touch to the ad; it really sums up their message that girls should have the opportunity and support to dream of whatever they want to be. Dreams should not be limited because of gender. Barbie has the right idea with the hashtag, #YouCanBeAnything.