A life-size Barbie appeared on the Today Show on Monday accompanied by its creator, who constructed the doll to raise awareness about anorexia and other eating disorders.
Galia Slayen of Oregon created the 6 foot-tall proportioned Barbie doll of wood, papier-mache, and chicken wire as a high school student in 2007 for the National Eating Disorders Awareness week.
She claims she suffered from anorexia herself while a high school cheerleader. Although she doesn’t blame Barbie for the illness, she does partially place responsibility on the expectations of beauty that the doll represents.
"I'm blond and blue-eyed and I figured that was what I was supposed to look like. She was my idol. It impacted the way I looked at myself,” she said.
The model doll exhibits an 18-inch waist, 39-inch bust, and 33-inch hips.
According to an email from Mattel, the doll was never intended to have life-like proportions and is one of many body images that girls see in the world.
"Girls see female body images everywhere today and it's critical that parents and caregivers provide perspective on what they are seeing,” the representative wrote to UPI.
