The Barbie was never intended to look like a real woman, according to the doll's lead designer at Mattel.
Kim Culmone, vice president of design for the Barbie brand, revealed in a recent interview that Barbie's inhuman proportions were intended to make the clothes "fall properly" on the doll's figure, Yahoo Shine reported.
"Barbie's body was never designed to be realistic," Culmore told Fast Company. "She was designed for girls to easily dress and undress."
The Barbie doll has long been listed as a contributor to women's issues when it comes to body weight, but Culmore apparently believes that the unnaturally thin, large-breasted figure has no influence on the young girls who play with it.
"Primarily it's for function for the little girl, for real life fabrics to be able to be turned and sewn, and have the outfit still fall properly on her body," Culmore said of the doll.
The Fast Company interviewer asked Culmore if the completely unrealistic proportions of the doll were necessary.
Culmore's explanation?
"Because if you're going to take a fabric that's made for us, and turn a seam for a cuff or on the body, her body has to be able to accommodate how the clothes will fit her."
The designer seems to believe that girls will make zero connections between their Barbie dolls and themselves when it comes to how they should look and dress. A Barbie doll is not a person; she's an imaginary figure that girls can use to act out whatever they're playing, according to Culmore.
An average Barbie has recently appeared on the toy scene, but Mattel doesn't have any plans to put it into production.
When asked if the Barbie doll would ever become more true to life, Culmore said, "So to me, there isn't an objective to change the proportion of Barbie currently. And to little girls, they are putting themselves in that doll anyway."
Galia Slayen, a high school student who had previously suffered from an eating disorder, put together a "real-life" Barbie and wrote about in The Huffington Post in 2011.
If Barbie were real, she would have the BMI of an anorexic, likely would not menstruate and would have to walk on all fours due to her proportions.
"Barbie represented beauty, perfection and the ideal for young girls around the world," Slaven wrote of her times playing with the doll as a child. "At least, as a seven-year-old, that is what she was to me."
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