Dolly

The simple pleasure of playing as a child, with summers rolling on endlessly. Everything seems bigger and brighter. The big world is going on all around but it is the small world that concerns us.

What is so important in our world as a child can seem trivial when looking back.

We have our friends, and we have our "friends". Gender roles expect that Girls play with dolls and Barbie is the stereotypical female doll. The complexities of life are reduced in a doll. She is everything that most of us are not; tall, slim, tanned, gorgeous hair, perfect skin, white teeth, lovely smile, fantastic clothes and big blue eyes.

When we are young, we have Barbie as to be our best friend. We aspire to be like her and live her life. The relationship we have with her continues throughout our life - it manifests itself in our subconscious. As grown ups, females have constant issues with beauty, weight and living the dream life-style. We are often told how we are supposed to look and dress, and it becomes a point & focus of our desire, but consequently we are unfulfilled as it proves to be unobtainable.

Barbie's own scale and model on the ideal woman, though very slim, is totally out of proportion - even super models don't have Barbie's proportions! However in the eye of digital, anything is possible. Constantly actresses, singers and models are being digitally changed - made taller, larger breasts, more Barbie like.

What this image is creating is a shape that other women who are generally becoming more discontented with their bodies, are striving for - but in fact it is just a digital fantasy.

Our childhood plaything, has not been cast aside, but is now becoming a role model.