What about the Boys?: Negative Influences of Action Figures
Everyone knows about the Barbie blame game. Everything from her breasts to her hair to her incredibly small waist; it’s all unattainable, unrealistic, and even a little scary. If Barbie was blown up to a real person’s size, she would not be able to physically live or support herself due to her disproportionate body. But why then do young girls continue to idolize, fantasize, and give power to these dolls that are indeed much smaller than they are? It’s because Barbie, in their eyes, are “perfect.” In extreme cases, this can eventually lead to low self-esteem and even eating disorders. But who’s to say that the same can’t go for young boys playing with action figures?
Being constantly bombarded with images of what society considers as the “perfect” body can take a toll on people’s psyches, especially for young children. Body image issues seem to be more prominent for young girls, however many overlook the effect it has on young boys. Over the past few decades, the evolution of action figures resulted in increasingly more muscular action figures to the point where they are unrealistic. If today’s G.I. Joe action figure was blown up to a real person’s size, he would exceed the world’s largest bodybuilder. Toys like these are a negative influence on children because they present unattainable bodies. Obsession with muscular action figures can lead to psychological concerns, eating disorders, and conformity to extreme gender stereotypes which can lead to violence. To read a little more about it, see this site.
(Joanne Zhao)
I'm glad you posted something about this on here. I feel as though young boys sometimes get forgotten when it comes to topics like this. I am in no way trying to dim down the impact media has on girls. I can't stand Barbies or any of those other dolls or advertisements that tell girls how to look. But boys feel it too, as you show in your post. Girls get made fun of or teased if they don't have a small waist or perfect boobs but boys get bullied too. I was helping out a friend's mom in high school by teaching a religion class for 3rd graders and boys would constantly bully each other about how they looked and they were only 8 years old. The seed gets planted into their minds early. It's the 8 year old boys who will be looking for toys and action figures so they start to immediately think that a man should look like that. I think it definitely goes both ways.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post. I wrote my essay for class about this. I read an article saying if one of the modern day G.I. Joe figures were real, they would be bigger than most bodybuilders in the world today. I also know that such concern with male body image did not occur worldwide. Its not just action figures, its in sports, films, and other forms of entertainment. Everywhere you look there a men with the "ideal" physique, and young boys are going to think this is what they should look like when they're older. Its a shame that how they should look is being force fed down their throats.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting topic that is usually not spoken about much. These kinds of action figures definitely do influence young boys to try to aspire to have muscular figures. I would never want to see a teenage male attempting to obtain a body structure like that at such a young age. At the same time, I definitely don't think these dolls should be modified to be more realistic. They are action figures from fictional stories, and exaggeration is what they are based on, and what brings in the entertainment aspect. It's the job of parents and people around young males to inform them that they shouldn't be obsessed with having a muscular body. Kids should have the opportunity to enjoy these actions figure, but without having the desire to actually be like them.
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