An image of a “plus-size” Barbie has gone viral, and the web has a lot to say about it this week.
Originally part of a 2011 illustration contest on Worth1000.com, the image was shared on Plus-Size-Modeling.com last week, attracting thousands of new viewers. The photo depicts Barbie several sizes larger than she usually is, and while some say a fuller figure isn’t a bad thing, they also don’t want an obese doll giving their children the wrong impression about body image.
“Imo this is horrible. Maybe make her a little fuller,but in no way promote obesity. Triple chins?? Really?? Im a curvy girl,but come on this is ridiculous,” one commenter wrote on Facebook.
The debate over Barbie’s figure is not a new one. Many people have voiced the opinion in the past that the popular doll should have measurements more like an average girl, not an impossibly tiny waist and long legs. In fact, an artist made a 3-D model earlier this year that had the measurements of an average 19-year old woman, and it was a huge hit.
“I created normal Barbie because I wanted to show that average is beautiful,’’ Nickolay Lamm told TODAY.com. “If average-looking Barbie looks this good and if there’s even a chance of Barbie negatively influencing young girls, why not make one?”
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Image: Worth1000.com