Being one of the most popular children toys ever made, a collector’s item, and one of the biggest icons for beauty, Barbie has had a huge influence ever since she hit the shelves. Barbie can be recognized everywhere with her bright blonde hair and long, slender body. However, it has always been a debate whether or not Barbie’s iconic image gives young girls the wrong idea about beauty.
Research has found that if Barbie were a real person, her measurements would be completely unrealistic. She is estimated to be about 5 foot 9 inches with an 18-inch waist, 33-inch hips, and would weigh only 110 pounds. If a woman had these body proportions in real life, she would have to walk on all fours and all of her organs would not fit in her body.
It is no surprise that this raises concerns whether about Barbie influencing a girl’s body image in a negative way. Parents are wondering what would happen if their children started comparing their own bodies to their high fashion dolls and realizing they don’t quite look the same. Nickolay Lam’s solution is to create a new doll named Lammily.
Lammily started as a virtual doll Nickolay created with average 19-year-old women’sbody proportions. She has little makeup, bendable limbs, and if were human, would measure to be about 5 foot 4 inches tall and have a 33-inch waste. She promotes a healthy lifestyle and is fit. Nickolay created Lammily to give the message that “average is beautiful.”
Nickolay uploaded a picture of the doll online, and it became popular very quick. People started to wonder how they could get their very own Lammily doll. Nickolay then started a fundraiser to help raise money so that the doll would be available to buy. He was able to raise enough money, and is now in the process of creating the physical doll. The creator has no intention of replacing Barbie, or encouraging people to stop loving her, he just wants to give people an alternative choice.
Lammily is now available to be pre-ordered, and will start shipping in November of 2014. For any more information visit www.lammily.com