Art Imitating Life

One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed

Do You Hear Your Own Impact?

Just in case you hadn't heard the news, it's time for a celebration! At long last, Mattel has fixed our problems with little girls growing up to have distorted body images by making Barbie in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Thanks, Mattel. You did that just in time to save my girls from falling down that slippery slope that leads to women starving themselves to look like Barbie.

Oh.

Wait.

There's still those pesky magazine covers. They could still fall down that slope.

I suppose that means I will have to find a way to keep my girls from seeing the waif-like women who have been Photohopped to be even more waif-like than they really are as we wait in line at the store. Thigh gaps at the same height as candy bars are certain to lead them down that slippery slope.

But at least I don't have to put any of the blame on the adults in their lives. I mean, if it weren't for the magazine covers, I might have to wonder what sort of impact it has on Alexis when she hears her teacher say, "I can't have a cupcake. I'm on a diet." She's a slender woman who Alexis respects immensely, so I would hate to think that words that paint food as a reward or a punishment could have some sort of impact. It would be terrible if she were to think that being skinny is the ideal and that the only way to achieve it is to punish yourself.

The magazine covers. That's the problem.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I should probably do more to speak out about the magazine covers. Surely they have more influence over how my daughters view bodies than things like the conversation Alexis had with some of her friends the other day. A visit to a water park ended with the revelation that some of Alexis' friends have never seen their moms in a swimsuit. One literally said, "We've been to Kalahari before, but just me and my sister rode the slides. My mom said she's too fat to wear a swimsuit in public."

She's probably a size 12. Maybe a 14. Regardless, I think she's beautiful. If only those pesky magazines weren't painting a picture that says she's too fat. It's the magazines that are the problem, right? It's not the mom's own declaration that she's too fat to be seen in public doing something crazy like wearing a swimsuit at a water park, right?

It's definitely the magazine covers.

Thank goodness. I'd hate to think that any little girls look at their moms doing things like a week-long juice cleanse and decide that it's a healthy and normal way to live. We all know that living off some disgusting juice blend because you need to lose as much weight as possible in a short amount of time is the sort of thing that happens when you grow up playing with a too-skinny Barbie and looking at waifs on magazine covers. Surely seeing your mom complain endlessly about how fat she is and then watching her starve herself with pureed kale is perfectly okay. Kids know that their moms do things that are a bad idea, right? As long as we don't let them play with that perfect Barbie and keep those magazine covers away, they'll grow up to respect their bodies enough to avoid dangerous crash diets. Right?

It's the magazine covers.

Now that Barbie is fixed, we just need to fix the magazine covers.