Age of Barbie vs 95 percent of the female population: A word from Audrey Hepburn

Special to WorldTribune.com

By Loredana Vuoto

Plastic is in fashion and Barbie is leading the way.

At least that’s what 16-year-old Lolita Richi believes. The Ukranian native has made a splash on social media for aspiring to look like a doll. In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Richi boasted she naturally has Barbie’s proportions, insisting her 20-inch waist and 32 F bra size are not the product of Photoshop, plastic surgery or dieting.

AudreyHepburn“I had great features to start with and I just improved on them. My big breasts are natural although I sometimes wear a push-up bra to enhance them,” she said. “I have a gorgeous figure so I don’t even have to diet.”

The lady doth protest too much. Photos of Richi taken just two years ago show her looking very different. It is hard to believe surgery was not involved in obtaining her current doll-like appearance.

On an all-liquid diet, Richi acknowledges that although at 5 feet 4 inches she can’t become a model, she will at least have caché like Kim Kardashian. “But if I can become famous for my appearance in some other way, I will be extremely happy,” she said.

Richi is not alone in her quest to look like a doll. She follows Valeria Lukyanova — a.k.a. “Human Barbie” who was recently featured in an interview with GQ magazine — Alina Kovalevskaya and “Human Ken Doll” Justin Jedlica, who have all successfully materialized their plastic dream.

This disturbing trend should not come as a surprise. Hollywood and the media flaunt an impossible ideal of beauty. Breast implants, botox, hair extensions, and acrylic nails are the norm for the majority of celebrities whose size 0 is a far cry from the average woman. Try as they may, young girls and women continue to aspire to look like supermodel Gisele Bündchen to no avail.

According to the Social Issues Research Centre, an independent, non-profit organization that researches social and cultural trends, less than 5 percent of the female population is able to attain the ideal of thinness portrayed in the media. The result is a high rate of depression, anxiety and anorexia. These women feel inadequate compared to the superficial female ideal fêted in television, movies and magazines.

Tallulah Willis, the 20 year-old youngest daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, recently revealed her struggle with body image when she participated in StyleLikeU’s, “The What’s Underneath Project,” on Aug. 6. The project’s goal is to teach women that their identity and self-worth should not be based on their body size or the clothes they wear.

In a video, Willis explains how the portrayal of her face and body in tabloids was the cause of her body dysmorphia — a mental illness whereby a person believes their appearance is defective.

“I’m diagnosed with body dysmorphia with reading those stupid f*** tabloids when I was like 13 and feeling like I was ugly, like always,” she said. I believed the strangers more than the people who loved me because why would the people who love me be honest?”

As body dysmorphia becomes more prevalent and young girls continue to strive for an elusive, utopian look, their heart and soul shrivel.

“I was trapped in this body,” Willis adds. “I started starving myself and losing a bunch of weight and I got down to like 95 pounds. When I lost my curves and when my boobs shriveled up into like nothing and I had no shape, it put me in even more of a cage.”

For those who reject the Barbie ideal, there is hope. Artist Nickolay Lamm is in the process of raising enough money to produce the “Lammily” doll. The doll, which carries the tagline, “Average is beautiful,” is modeled on an actual 19-year-old teenage woman with measurements provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Lammily” wears mineral make-up, promotes a healthy lifestyle and dons sneakers. Lamm hopes to give women a realistic alternative to the iconic doll, which he believes misrepresents the average female body size.

But the only real long-term solution for women to overcome misconceptions about beauty is for the media and society to stop obsessing over looks and start affirming virtue. When character trumps boobs, honor outweighs skinny, and integrity outmuscles botox, only then can women begin to understand the real meaning of beauty. Only then will the real meaning of feminism be revealed. Maybe then the Kim Kardashians and Kate Uptons of this world will fade into the background and be replaced by real women of substance.

Hollywood’s Golden Age once acknowledged substance over ethereal glam. Classic iconic actresses like Katherine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall and Audrey Hepburn were lauded for more than just their good looks. Grace, poise and modesty, were all part of an unwritten female code of beauty women embraced, shining through every celluloid frame.

Hollywood has forgotten that true beauty lies within.

“The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows,” said Audrey Hepburn who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1992.

Barbie wannabees would be wise to transcend their superficial façade. Real women work hard on cultivating virtue. They also embrace every wrinkle and curve which contributes to their character.

Loredana Vuoto is a former speechwriter for Sen. Rick Santorum. She was assistant national editor and an editorial writer at The Washington Times.

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