Bondage Barbie

Like most little girls, I played with Barbie dolls, dreaming of the beauty, glamour and excitement which would one day become my life.

Okay, in a lot of respects, I’m still waiting. Part of the intoxication of the whole Barbie dream life involved image. Isn’t that usually the way it goes? Check out this image:

It says it all, doesn’t it? So, early on, as little girls, we are indoctrinated into to the concept of “Barbie bondage.” I remember as part of my doll play, spending hours dressing my Barbie dolls in various outfits: sporty, evening, equestrian, ballerina attire and, of course, the wedding dress. And these were just a few options. So, this made me focus on, of course, Barbie’s body. Uh huh. Here we go romping into the wonderful world of unrealistic expectations for body image. And how could I ever avoid it? The plastic body was my first exposure to what the female form should look like. So, already, it’s not encouraging. Because, after all, Barbie’s measurements, if she was a real woman, would read as follows: 39-19-33. Compare that with “the real woman’s” measurements: 36/37-29/31-40/42. Notice a difference? Yeah. Add to that, the height and weight of Barbie if she was a real woman; she’s be six feet tall and 101 pounds. And how about the real woman? She’d be 5’4” and 145 pounds. Again, it’s a notable difference. So, it was a choice between the dream of Barbie and the reality of an actual woman. Which one would I choose? It’s not hard to guess. Yep, I signed up for a lifetime struggle of Barbie bondage. As a little girl, that doll’s standard was what I should be. I expected my body to look like hers as I grew up. So, when I entered puberty, I was in for a major disappointment. My body looked nothing like the plastic Barbie doll. I, therefore, determined I was a failure. But I missed one huge point: Barbie was not real; I was. Barbie was plastic; I wasn’t. Barbie was a dumb idol; I was a real human being. “What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.” Habakkuk 2:18-19 Apples and oranges? Perhaps. Or maybe it was just the wrong image I was focusing on as a child…and then as an adolescent…and then as an adult. Image. Or, more accurately, idolatry. Maybe, if we view Barbie with a caution, as a potential idol, at worst, causing harm and at best, giving us unrealistic portrayal of the female form and life, then maybe we could refocus our attention onto the image we truly resemble: God’s Image. After all, right from the start, God let us know He created each of us to take after Him: “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26-27 So, why are we looking elsewhere? Barbie- and anything apart from God- is only a dumb idol, profiting us nothing. Focusing on her image subjects us to harmful bondage, as we get obsessed with measurements, inches and pounds. This is not who we’re called to be. It is God’s Word which defines, helps, delivers and frees us, not an idol of our own making. Once again… “What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.” Habakkuk 2:18-19 Are you struggling with body image issues? Did these struggles start as a child, perhaps, with your own Barbie doll play? What is the answer? God and what He has to say about you! “O my dove…let me see your form…for your form is lovely.” Song of Solomon 2:14 “Thou art beautiful, O my love…” Song of Solomon 6:4 Each of us needs to place our trust in God, in what He says about us, ABOVE any temporary- failing idol. God and His Word will not fail: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11 “This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.” Psalms 119:50 God gave us Jesus to fee us. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1 We may have learned the wrong things about ourselves and our bodies as children. But that can be corrected now. We now have awareness and the ability to choose. What will we choose? Barbie bondage or God freedom? “…choose you this day whom ye will serve…” Joshua 24:15 We are so much more than a plastic doll. We have spirits, hearts, minds and personalities that far transcend any inanimate object! We don’t deserve the limiting, lying bondage of the plastic image; we deserve the life God has created for us! Let’s put away childish things and live that life now! “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” 1 Corinthians 13:11 Barbie has nothing on us, on the incredible women we are! Celebrate- and play with that Truth instead of playing with Barbie! Copyright © 2012 by Sheryle Cruse