Curvy Appreciation 001
Sadly, Barbie appreciation groups seem to have some ugly patterns, every six months or so, someone posts a picture of a reproduction of an original silkstone Barbie in her iconic black and white swimsuit and a curvy Barbie in a similar swimsuit, and compares the two. This inevitably leads to the ugly. I posted about it here before. Same old arguments, plus a few new ones I’d like to address.
“ I wear a size 10 so I can say she’s fat and ugly”
If size is the only definition of ugly, I’ve got some bad news for the person who posted this. The curvy made to move barbie, when scaled up from 1/6th to human size, actually sports a size 6 UK (4 US) waist and a size 8 UK (6 US) hips. Might want to rethink those rigid beauty standards.
“Why are these dolls considered attractive by anyone?”
For the same reason Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Christina Hendricks, and Ashley Graham are thought of as attractive: they are attractive. Myself, the writer behind Logan, along with millions of other people, enjoy the aesthetics of luscious curves. If you can’t appreciate more than what graces the catwalks of fashion shows, I sincerely feel bad for you, no one should be that hard on themselves or anyone else.
“They’re so frumpy, they can never look elegant or cool”
If you find your curvy dolls are looking frumpy, you’re not dressing them appropriately. That’s not the fault of the doll, it’s the fault of whomever is styling the doll. The curvy-doll loving community, not just yours truly, has proved this repeatedly, I’ve included a small sample selection below.
Beate's fashion forward Barbie:
Turns out, this doll is a “Mini Me” styled doll — I can’t wrap my brain around being that cool, ever. You can find the woman behind the doll right here.
This is Aretha’s “Mini Me” Barbie:
She looks like a real go-getter, someone who is ready to tackle her day with gusto and somehow still have energy to spare. You can see more of her cool dolls here.
This is Estaban’s retro pin up babe:
To the folks with curvy Barbies: if you’re interested in being featured in future “Curvy Appreciation” posts, I’m happy to promote body positive Barbie adoring people. You can reach out to me in the comments below, on Twitter, or on Instagram.
If you want to see more dolls, just check out the #curvyBarbie hashtag on Instagram.
