Researchers Find Barbie Is Often Mutilated at the hands of young girls

**karyn** · 12-19-2005

from yahoo

By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer

LONDON - Barbie, beware. The iconic plastic doll is often mutilated at the hands of young girls, according to research published Monday by British academics.

"The girls we spoke to see Barbie torture as a legitimate play activity, and see the torture as a 'cool' activity," said Agnes Nairn, one of the University of Bath researchers. "The types of mutilation are varied and creative, and range from removing the hair to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving."

Researchers from the university's marketing and psychology departments questioned 100 children about their attitudes to a range of products as part of a study on branding. They found Barbie provoked the strongest reaction, with youngsters reporting "rejection, hatred and violence," Nairn said.

"The meaning of 'Barbie' went beyond an expressed antipathy; actual physical violence and torture towards the doll was repeatedly reported, quite gleefully, across age, school and gender," she said.

While boys often expressed nostalgia and affection toward Action Man — the British equivalent of GI Joe — renouncing Barbie appeared to be a rite of passage for many girls, Nairn said.

"The most readily expressed reason for rejecting Barbie was that she was babyish, and girls saw her as representing their younger childhood out of which they felt they had now grown," she said.

Nairn said many girls saw Barbie as an inanimate object rather than a treasured toy.

"Whilst for an adult the delight the child felt in breaking, mutilating and torturing their dolls is deeply disturbing, from the child's point of view they were simply being imaginative in disposing of an excessive commodity in the same way as one might crush cans for recycling," she said.

Manufacturer Mattel, which sells 94 million Barbies a year worldwide, said the doll remained the "No. 1 fashion doll brand."

Mattel U.K. said that despite the findings of "this very small group of children, we know that there are millions of girls in the U.K. and across the world that love and enjoy playing with Barbie and will continue to do so in the future."

**karyn** · 12-19-2005

anyone here ever do anything special to a barbie doll?

**Belladonna** · 12-19-2005

i cut off thier hair gave them tats. i also made a mobile of thbarbie heads once

**sheramil** · 12-19-2005

for a while i was seriously into the whole barbie-modification thing; i've still got one really nice one, gothed up in a coffin - leather pants with a circled A on the butt, etc.

i spent a lot of time working on a Borg Barbie, gave it to a friend who gave it to her children. they didn't "mutilate" it, but they did pull off anything that could be pulled off.

i think whoever commissioned that study is trying to make a point.

**Buster Friendly** · 12-19-2005

I caught so much flak when I was a kid for drawing two little puncture wounds, and dripping blood on a friend's little sister's barbie doll. man, our parents threw a fit. 'there must be something wrong with you, why would you do that, blah, blah...'

**HeadlessBill** · 12-19-2005

I remember when I was little, my sister made me so mad that I took her Barbie dolls and made them flat chested so their clothes wouldn't fit anymore.

**Baby_Switchblade** · 12-19-2005

One of my first Barbie dolls was at the time a prized possession, and in a fit of anger my older brother came along and ripped her head off, making my hysterically upset.

Then, a few years later, I discovered how to remove their eyebrows with nail polish remover and draw fancy new ones on. Shortly following that was tattoos, new eye makeup (again with the help of nail polish remover), undercuts, mohawks, etc.

One of my Barbies even had a blue mohawk, eleven facial piercings, about five studs in each ear, incredibly arched drawn-on eyebrows, and a back covered in tattoos. She looked pretty damn cool.

**VoldtaEngler** · 12-20-2005

there was a group a few years back that bought the talking barbies and talking gi joes and switched chips inside them..sealed em back up and returned to stores..when parents bought them for their kids the barbies would say "You wont succeed Cobra!"

**Baby_Switchblade** · 12-20-2005

lmao!!!!

**MistressJennifer** · 12-20-2005

I have Barbie's NOW and they are both in the coffin box that came with the Chartreuse!! One Barbie has a cross and a punk rock goth outfit, and the other is kind of medieval Princess Barbie....

We won't get into ME being a gothic barbie and what terrible things my boytoy does to ME.... Not going to go there!

**Toe Cutter** · 12-20-2005

Originally Posted by MistressJennifer

We won't get into ME being a gothic barbie and what terrible things my boytoy does to ME.... Not going to go there!

You tart!

**Toe Cutter** · 12-20-2005

Are any of you girls into Blythe dolls?

**Spaceman Spiff** · 12-20-2005

Thats a great pic of Christina Ricci, where did you find it?

...sorry, I couldn't resist.

**Baby_Switchblade** · 12-20-2005

Blythe doll? Never heard of 'em.

I do have to laugh at those Bratz dolls though, aren't they just the totally slutty version of Barbie, with huge eyes and plumped-up lips?? Seriously, they may as well do those exotic dancer dolls, Sorority Slut dolls and such.

**mmmcherry** · 12-20-2005

ugh bratz dolls are horrid looking... they annoy me hehee...
i have bondage barbie at home... i have her all electrical-taped up and sexy, AND bonus, shes one of those talking ones that say "its beautiful, this is fun, i love it!" hahaa... fucking hilarious!

**Baby_Switchblade** · 12-20-2005

Originally Posted by mmmcherry

ugh bratz dolls are horrid looking... they annoy me hehee...
i have bondage barbie at home... i have her all electrical-taped up and sexy, AND bonus, shes one of those talking ones that say "its beautiful, this is fun, i love it!" hahaa... fucking hilarious!

haha that's a fucking classic!!!!

**Baby_Switchblade** · 12-20-2005

Originally Posted by VoldtaEngler

there was a group a few years back that bought the talking barbies and talking gi joes and switched chips inside them..sealed em back up and returned to stores..when parents bought them for their kids the barbies would say "You wont succeed Cobra!"

...I really want a Barbie that does that, now. Shame they don't make them like that in the first place, I want a G.I. Barbie.

**mmmcherry** · 12-23-2005

hah barbie would be hott in all those army clothes... mmm...

**sunkarma** · 12-25-2005

Well, If I had a doll that totally was not realistic of a healthy human body image..I'd destroy it too. I mean, remember the measurements of this doll and the unhealthy image it USED to portray to kids? Then they started making more 'PC' barbies with actual occupations, etc to influence kids to be more productive than look cute and dream for corvettes and 'fun' houses...

I love Bratz dolls, frankly. I am supposed to look like Sasha.

I dunno...
I got a Bratz "Rock Star" doll for Xmas...I was so on the floor laughing.

Sun

**Pull~My~Hair** · 12-25-2005

I used to cut my barbies hair and take one leg off and the opposite arm off and flush her dopwn the toilet, she would just sit there and spin and spin...but never go down

**the_darkness_calls** · 12-25-2005

my sister used to chew the fingers and toes and noses off of all our barbies, so all ours were deformed.

**sunkarma** · 12-28-2005

Here's a thought...
the mutilation these people do to their dolls..do they want to do to others?
Is it just getting out their aggression?
Do they want to mutilate themselves and just take it out on their dolls?

Geez..I gotta get out of this psych ward rotation thing. It is making me analyze waaay too much.

**hottie4urliking69** · 12-28-2005

my friend's sister is 8 years old and she takes her mom's lighter and burns the faces off any barbie bought for her. does that say "future homicidal maniac" or what?

**sunkarma** · 12-29-2005

Actually. She is having some problems with her self image...
it is sad because she is so young.

She burns the FACES off of the barbies because she does not 'know' who she is and is having a hard time fitting in at school..does she have any siblings at home? Perhaps she is feeling like she is not getting enough attention. Tell her mom this...and QUICK.

Yes, I'm a psychologist.

**poisen_ivy** · 12-29-2005

i am her older sister. i am 16 and i give her plenty of attention. she also has ADD. im starting to think she maybe has some pyscological problems that need to be addressed by someone licensed to do so. i've told my mom this a thousand times but she the kind of person that denies there is anything wrong with anyone she cares about.

**VoldtaEngler** · 12-29-2005

dismembering dolls is no longer a psycological disorder..ever since it hit media mainstream when all the kindergoths would buy them at dollar stores and paint em up and chop their heads off and tie the hands and feet like hanging mobiles on their ceilings. its not a cry for help. it doesnt mean they will come kill you in your sleep. its a " hey look at me..i have a doll..i call her Dementia...i chopped her head off...kiss it" nah...thats not spooky anymore *_*

when they chop off their own heads...well..then you have a disorder...thats my opinion though. with that..i leave to you why doll chopping is popular...through songs..

M. Manson - well thats self explanatory..
Hole - Doll Parts
Swtichblade Symphony - Dollhouse
Urge Overkill - The Polaroid Doll
Skinny Puppy - Dead Doll

see the trend here *_*

oh..ps...welcome to BB

**Scar** · 12-31-2005

When I was in high school I hung all my barbie dolls from my window by their necks and put a sign proclaiming "A garden of Lynched Barbie Dolls!!"

**sunkarma** · 12-31-2005

That is art....

**Phoenix Blue** · 12-31-2005

My Barbies were always put in their sexiest outfits and bound in provacative poses - or at least what I thought was provacative at 8 years old, lol.

**trouble_or_bust** · 12-31-2005

personally, i never played with barbies. my cousin had some though so when i would get mad at her i would cut off all their hair or put red nail polish on them to look like blood then i would either tape them to the window, door, ect, or put them in her school lunch pail so she'd be sure to notice them. i used to get in so much trouble for that cause after she found them she would cry for hours.

**P I L O T** · 12-31-2005

okay i have a confession to make,.. as a little kid i would play with barbie dolls in secret,.. and make them hump each other ,. and my predator action figure. and at 5 and 6 this turn me on,..

secretly i still think barbie is really hott.

**poisen_ivy** · 01-01-2006

how can someone find a doll that doesnt look even remotely real attractive? her waist is too small for her chest, her feet are deformed, her chest is too big for the rest of her body......the list goes on and on. barbie is part of the reason we have so many anoxreics and bulimics. young girls see barbie as the essence of true beauty, when in all reality if a person really looked like that, they probably wouldnt be able to move.

**Predak** · 01-01-2006

Good point, I think that's probably the reason I mutilated my barbie, I'm wishing I'd microwaved one. Maybe then me and my mum would have been closer (she hates barbie with a blind passion).

**mmmcherry** · 01-01-2006

HAHA its never too late to microwave a barbie doll

**P I L O T** · 01-02-2006

dude her feet are sooo not deformed lol

barbie really is like soo popular

she's like a phenomenom(sp?) i remember watching this one episode of married with children where old dudes were all like buying barbie dolls at auctions for thousands of dollars cause they were collectors editions ,.. effin weird.

**Phoenix Blue** · 01-03-2006

As far as collectors items Pilot some barbies in their original packages are actually worth a lot of money. My aunt has 3 glass cases full, some from the 50's and 60's in their boxes (never opened). I don't know exactly how much they are worth but it's a nice chunk of change. A lot of things that become collectors items have always baffled me as to why. I think we need a line of really sexy pierced, tattooed, goth and fetish dolls

**mmmcherry** · 01-04-2006

I think we need a line of really sexy pierced, tattooed, goth and fetish dolls

YESSSS!!!!

**poisen_ivy** · 01-04-2006

i agree completely. but if they make barbies like that, then maybe they could make them more realistic

**Scar** · 01-04-2006

Well, I think that Barbi is idolized not for her exact figure but for what she represents. No saying that is any better, but as far as the deformed feet and unnatural waist and whatnot it is more of a symbol of the perfect woman.....

Barbi is the epitome (sp?) of the kind of person I hate... blonde, plastic, fake boobied and without pesonality.

**P I L O T** · 01-04-2006

HAHA goth barbie,.. she's be limited edition collectors item, we shall start the bidding at $1500, do I hear $1550?

complete with dildo, whip, and miniature platform high heel zip up knee high boots (handcuff?)

anyway the idealization of what barbie is supposed to represent comes from another time,. back when barbie was first designed women were pressured more into looking a certain way, in fact it's been proven that their bodies would alter from wearing those things (i forget what there called) around their waists that they would tie up. they wore those things everyday so tight it would shift the positioning of there organs.
The issues with barbies body is nothing new,... they have already changed the shape of her body once, cause the argue was that it was too unnatural girls grow up thinking they have to look a certain way that is impossible for any women to achieve

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