UnNews:Girls who play with non-skinny dolls demand enhancements
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| Girls who play with non-skinny dolls demand enhancements | 
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15 March 2021
TUGAWHANGETT, Massachusetts USA -- Researchers at Pankhurst University in Massachusetts have revealed a stunning insight about the effect of plastic role models on little girls by exposing them to dolls with different body types. Professor Erma Sogg is with us to explain the importance of their recent study on the role of dolls in the development of body image.
UnNews: "Thanks for coming all the way from Tugawhangett to get the results of your study out to the public on UnNews, Professor."
ES: "My pleasure. Please just call me Erma. We began with our previous finding that if we exposed young girls to a two hour session of Grand Theft Auto they were significantly more likely to play with a toy automobile than a bust of Virginia Woolf. We reasoned that this could well translate to the way that young girls think about themselves in other ways."
UnNews: "Why did you choose body image, Erma?"
ES: "We have long suspected that female teenagers who have problems with their body image have been influenced by exposure to role models in their early years. Now dolls might be a significant part of those role models."
UnNews: "We understand that this has been a popular field of study. How did you bring a new element into this research?"
ES: "We suddenly realized that all of the prevous studies had compared a popular type of doll with an attenuated body shape to less popular dolls whose body shapes were less attenuated."
UnNews: "You mean comparing skinny dolls to dolls that weren't so skinny, maybe even a bit chubby?"
ES: "Yes, that's one way to put it. We contacted one of our male colleagues at Ralph College and he suggested that we try more womanly dolls. He said they would be much more popular if more women read Playboy instead of Vogue. So we contacted the manufacturer he suggested. They only made life size dolls, but agreed to produce a few doll-size ones just for our research. I must say they are remarkably realistic."
UnNews: "And then the little girls played with them?"
ES: "Yes. We gave them standardized sessions, some with the womanly dolls and others with the skinny control dolls. Then we asked them how they felt about their bodies."
UnNews: "And what were the differences?"
ES: "As we expected, the girls with the skinny dolls wanted to be skinnier. However, the girls with the womanly dolls wanted to get umm, enhancements."
UnNews: "So how does this fit in with the body image problem?"
ES: "We asked the girls why they wanted to be like the dolls. Do know that no one has actually inquired? Well, they said that the dolls must be famous and they wanted to be famous, too. Just like the ladies that they follow on their mobile phones."
UnNews: "Right. So they thought that being famous is a good idea and they want to be like the people who are famous."
ES: "Yes, that sums it up. Also the girls who wore glasses and played with the womanly doll were no longer concerned about wearing glasses."
UnNews: "And where do you think you'll go from here, Erma?"
ES: "We're now aiming to make this clinically relevant by letting teenagers who have body image problems play with womanly dolls."
UnNews: "How is that one going?"
ES: "We're having a few problems with umm, gender identity and sexual preferences, but we're pressing on. This is really a world-first area of research, you know."
UnNews: "It sure sounds like it. We'll get back to you when the results from your current study hit the journals, Erma. Ah, have you ever thought of trying this on boys?"
ES: "We actually did a pilot study, but there was too much fighting over the dolls and we had to pull the plug, you might say."
UnNews: "Another tantalizing bit of cutting edge research from UnNews, folks."
Sources[edit]
- Kathy Skantzos "Girls who play with unrealistic thin dolls are more likely to have body image issues, study says". news.com.au, March 14, 2021*