The misrepresentation of women serves as a recurring theme in today’s society, whether that entails stereotyping them, underestimating their abilities, or holding unreasonable standards for them. For instance, something as simple as the dolls that children grow up playing with can alter the way that one perceives women and how they should look.

Most people are familiar with the popular doll, Barbie. Barbie sets unattainable standards for girls to strive for, and Nickolay Lamm recently decided to reset the standards. He created a doll that would accurately display the proportions of young women. Lamm introduced the Lammily Doll in 2014, which has become a major topic of conversation in the past year. The doll, which consumers can name on their own, comes with stretch marks, cellulite, scars, scratches, and even more attachments that are meant to make the newest doll “more realistic.” It begs the question, however: is this a good example for modern-day children, setting a more reasonable standard for girls, or has it gone too far? Writer Heather Spears of Nuzco.com stated, “Lammily is the doll that is pointing fingers and calming Barbie to be doing wrong because of the way she looks. The Lammily doll is the one making a statement claiming that it is ‘Okay to be average’ but not okay to be like Barbie.”

In recent years, the unrealistic images painted by society that influence young girls, such as the Barbie Doll, have come into serious question. Before creating the Lammily Doll, Lamm made a model of a Barbie in which he had changed the proportions to that of the average nineteen-year-old girl. With an overwhelming flood of responses to the model, he decided to take the idea even further and create his own doll. Upper School Spanish teacher, Behnaz Varamini, voiced her support for the new phenomenon and stated, “Anything that doesn’t perpetuate unrealistic body size to young girls is a step in the right direction…even though I think this is a small step. Growing up, I never wanted to be Barbie-sized and I knew she was over the top fabulous (have you seen how many accessories the girl has?!).The Lammily doll is more realistic because the Barbie doll has probably impossible proportions. And realistic is beautiful.” Barbie has proportions that no person could ever obtain. She is 5’9”, has an 18” waist, and has a size 3 shoe. Despite this, Lena Urick ‘17 said that she would still rather purchase the Barbie: “I like the fact that the new doll is more realistic, but I think the main attraction to Barbie dolls is their seemingly perfect appearance. If I had seen the two dolls in a store when I was younger I would have chosen the Barbie.” Although the doll has received a significant amount of positive feedback, many still have arguments in opposition of the doll. On the Lammily website, Lamm describes the fact that the current dolls that children play with would not change any time soon, so he decided to be the change.

Showing children, especially girls, that every shape and size is beautiful is critical in the young stages of their lives. A wide range of views exist regarding the Lammily doll and whether or not it will serve as a step forward for our society. Many may see the Barbie doll as the more visually appealing one. The doll’s mission wants to show that everyone is beautiful. The doll itself sells for twenty-five dollars, and the additional body marks that come with it sell for an additional six dollars. There are different outfits and accessories that you can also buy to change up the look of Lamm’s doll to make the doll more personalized. Although there have been many positive and negative reactions to the doll, is a statement, which was Lamm’s objective in creating the doll.