Bratz and Barbie remade to look more realistic

Rivals Barbie and Bratz were being modeled alongside each other at a downtown mall in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire (UK), last week, only instead of long flowing locks, trimmed stomach and voluptuous breasts, the dolls sported mohawks, pot bellies and flat chests to more accurately reflect real woman. The Barbie Jamming event sponsored by the Peterborough County-City Health Unit saw kids using clay to remold the world’s most popular dolls to make them look realistic.

The idea was to challenge the stereotypes inherent in these dolls, that women must be slim and busty and men braun and muscle-bound. With fabric, paints and play-dough the children were given the opportunity break down advertisers long-used imagery of men and women. By the end of the event 75 remodeled Barbies, Bratz, Kens and wrestling figures were displayed in a glass case for the pleasure of about 200 onlookers who pitched up for the event.

The idea was based on the premise that children reflect what beauty is to them in doll form and helped form open lines of communication regarding eating disorders and the pressure to conform to celebrity shapes and magazines forms. The current doll images are viewed by many as a unhealthy image that distorts children’s perceptions of themselves and beauty. And girls were not the only ones affected, notes one organiser, as boys are feeling more pressure to beef up at the gym.

The name of the event “Barbie Jamming” comes from the concept of culture jamming where cultural norms are disrupted by creating a new message.