From the day we are born, girls are put into 2 categories, skinny or fat. At age 1 and 2 the dolls look like babies and girls are shown an image of what a normal baby girl should look like, very soft and cuddly. But all too soon the next upgrade at age 3 is a Barbie doll. This tall, tiny wasted, big boobed plastic “doll” is the image being internalized by our pre-school and grade-schooler girls. Why not provide real life dolls that real life girls can relate to. An Emme doll was launched by the American Dietetic Association (ADA) as an average size 16* to promote a more positive body image for girls. Unfortunately, it is a collector’s item now. Mattel manages to sell a Barbie doll every ½ second of the day throughout the world1. A study done in the United States showed that 99% of all girls aged 3-10 own a Barbie doll, with an average of 8 dolls per child. If only these were replaced with the size 16 Emme doll, I wonder how many fewer cases of eating disorders would show up in teenage girls. If Barbie was real, her waist would be 39% smaller than that of an anorexic patient. Her body weight is so low that she would not be able to menstruate.