Both bulimia and anorexia, two well-researched eating disorders, have been called the diseases of our generation. We blame society and its obsession with dieting, body image, and even gender, but we are society. Therefore, instead of sitting around and talking about how messed up the world seems these days; we should go out and try to change it.
Someone who truly has put meaning into Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world,” is a young artist named Nickolay Lamm. Sometime last summer, Lamm created a 3D models of a Barbie doll with the more realistic measurements and proportions of an average 19-year-old American woman.
He then placed his doll beside an original Barbie doll and the picture went viral, prompting many people to request that the real thing be made. It’s a widely known and accepted fact that Barbie’s level of “perfection” is insanely unrealistic, but when this picture invaded social networking, it seemed to actually make an impact on people.
The average woman would be somewhere a little taller than 5’3”, weighing 166.2 pounds with a waist circumference of 37.5 inches. Meanwhile, a real-life Barbie doll would be at least 6 feet tall with a waist circumference of approximately 18.5 inches, hips about 25 inches around, and a 39 inch bust.
In an email to the Huffington Post Lamm stated, “If we criticize skinny models, we should at least be open to the possibility that Barbie may negatively influence young girls as well.”
Now, in an effort to promote his motto of “average is beautiful,” Lamm has started an online fundraiser to help pay for the costs of creating his highly-requested realistic Barbie, whom he dubbed Lammily. The goal was to raise $95,000 and the fundraiser was launched on March 5th, and days later, Lamm had already surpassed his goal by raising $372,588 from 10,713 backers. Any donators that gave at least $25 dollars were automatically entered for a chance to win an Exclusive First Edition Lammily and for $5,000, a donator would get their name on the First Edition packaging and would be “entitled to receive up to 10 First Edition Lammily dolls.”
Lammily is expected to come out sometime in November of this year. Lamm will be aided in the making and distribution of Lammily by the former Vice President of Mattel, Inc. The doll will be dressed in average-looking clothes (a blouse, denim shorts, and white sneakers) and Lammily will go out in public with minimal make up on.
With professional assistance in manufacturing and Lamm’s amazing 3D model, Lammily is sure to be a major hit with parents and kids alike. If we instill the idea that average is beautiful into the minds of the next generation’s children, the brighter everyone’s future will be in the end.
