Life-Size Barbie Visits The Today Show (VIDEO)

Earlier this month, Hamilton College student Galia Slayen's blog post on her life-size Barbie doll became one of the most-read posts in HuffPost College's history. Watch below as Slayen and her unbelievable-looking creation -- which she uses to raise eating disorder awareness -- visited the TODAY show Monday.

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Comments

[ccurti20]

11:43 AM on 04/26/2011

But what about He-Man.

[Olive Oyl]

11:53 PM on 04/19/2011

Images of the human body are not meant to be an exact representation but rather an unrealistic and exaggerated view of it. Just look at the "Venus of the Fels Cave." If people created exact ones, they might as well just stare at people in the streets.Just take Barbie for what she is, a non-human unrealistic image. I love Barbie ever since I was a child and she never had a negative effect on me on how I look at my body or others because she's a toy.

[themightylemur]

03:38 PM on 04/19/2011

She utterly fails at scaling.

[Casandra Kumsung]

03:28 PM on 04/20/2011

Exactly, she obviously failed math if she thinks these were the same proportions as the doll. Not even close.

Also this is a model a doll. Proportions can not always be followed. It is to small and we do not see the depth the same way so a doll to human proportions would look flat.

[eyepdtouch]

03:00 PM on 04/19/2011

Guess what people, some women are extremely tall, slender, busty, graceful, and poised. These are merely physical appearances.

It happens, and these extremely beautiful women will often times have the upper hand in life, people need to happy with who they are.

Does everyone really go around and wallow about this? Come on, people are realistic, if you are afraid of tall slender women - do not, i mean do not go to Manhattan, Geneva, London, Milan, or Paris - you will feel terrible because there are many women which have been blessed with better aesthetic genetics.

You think it's bad in the States for how women feel the need to change their body images, Europe and Eastern countries are miles ahead of us in this department.

[jdc38]

02:59 PM on 04/19/2011

What's the problem she looks great to me. I would date her. Just kidding. It is out of proportion to the doll. It make good points but based on these posts there is more chatter about the depiction being inaccurate rather than the valid point it makes.

[eyepdtouch]

02:52 PM on 04/19/2011

Why is this getting blog time? The head is many times smaller in proportional dimension than the doll? Actually many of the dimensions are completely dissimilar.

[Shawn Lane]

01:35 PM on 04/19/2011

This is ridiculous. You can see that the "life-size" Barbie is all out of proportion. If it was a true representation then the actual size Barbie would look the same as the larger one just on a smaller scale. Obviously certain aspects have been exaggerated to make a point. Guess she'll be suing Mattel soon.

[Lauren Weisman]

02:14 PM on 04/19/2011

This is ridiculous. I agree. Mattel should be suing her for misrepresentation. The Barbie is at 1/6 scale. So she would only be 5'-9" tall and her measurements would be 36, 18, 33. I admit this is still very unrealistic but the exaggeration of proportion by this girl is absurd. Today should have checked their facts before featuring this story.

[Jackie2000]

02:12 AM on 04/20/2011

I saw this on NBC and thought the same thing. It seems preposterous. I don't even know how she arrived at these cartoonish proportions -- and I honestly don't want to know.

I think she may have flunked math....and anatomy.

[Larry Allen Coons]

01:30 PM on 04/19/2011

Has anyone checked the facts here? The average height of a woman in the U.S., according to the national insitute of health, is 5 foot 3.75 inches and the average heigh of a barbie doll is 11.5 inches according to mattel. The doll must be a 9/50ths scale model of a female. Someone please take a tape measure out and measure a standard barbie doll bust, waste, and hips. This woman has the life-sized model at 39-18-33. how close is she to a standard doll?

If she is correct, the doll should have a 7 inch-3 1/4 inch -6 inch measurement. She is incorrect about the height so far.

[CreativeTweets]

01:18 PM on 04/19/2011

That's not even close to being proportional. I think this poor young woman just has a case of body dysmorphia, and she's showing us what Barbie looks in her eyes.

The whole body image thing is a relevant topic for discussion, but I think Galia needs a different kind of professional help.

[Jackie2000]

02:14 AM on 04/20/2011

these posts are cracking me up! "body dysmporphia" ....LOLOLOL!!!! :)

[aklyric]

11:52 AM on 04/19/2011

So does the "Ken" doll have an enormous package? Do little kids look at him and wonder how they will ever measure up?

[Kathrn]

11:20 AM on 04/19/2011

If mattel admits that barbie isn't scaled to human proportion then why did she make a "life-size" barbie. The measurements don't ad up to a person's so you can't really compare the "life-size" doll to a person.
I grew up playing with barbie and she left no effect on how I view my body. She was just a toy to me along with all the other toys I had. I never held the way she looked to any standard of how women should look. Honestly there are messages to young girls in the world that are much more harmful than a simple barbie doll could ever be. So people need to get off mattel's back.

[Jackie2000]

02:20 AM on 04/20/2011

The "real" Barbie has perfectly reasonable and desirable proportions. This thing is completely goofy.

I grew up with Barbies, too....and mine had a profound impact on me. Nothing wrong with that.
I LOVED her clothes (my mom made many of them)....and you better believe I couldn't wait to grow into my adult Barbie body to wear those same stylish clothes (my mom could rock a Barbie evening gown, swimsuit and sundress!)....nothing like this lop-sided freakazoid creation.

[Satirica9]

10:24 AM on 04/19/2011

Just think of poor, anatomically-incorrect Ken! Talk about body image problems!

[Slim Chances]

11:47 PM on 04/18/2011

See what it might be like to be the subject of persecution for being “to perfect”. This story is shown from the dolls point of view and I think quiet dramatic and eye opening about the idea of getting rid of images and ideas we don’t like. If you are interested in this issue I think you might want to check it out. You can watch it for Free at this website http://www.toyboxbitch.com/files/PAGES/VIDEOS/VIDEOS.html

[Each1Teach1]

10:11 PM on 04/18/2011

One Barbie doll doesn't do it, but add a bombardment of photoshopped images of female beauty and we put our little girls on the road to self-loathing and all of the disorders that come about as a result.

[Freedom Rush]

11:36 PM on 04/18/2011

i wonder if guys are starting to feel the pressure too? probably not.

[Each1Teach1]

12:02 AM on 04/19/2011

There actually are indications that they are! I just heard about something called "manorexia."

[MG Metiva]

07:16 AM on 04/19/2011

Yes, it's called Bigorexia!

[Casandra Kumsung]

03:31 PM on 04/20/2011

Then you need help. It is sales that is all you do not have to buy it. If these adds effect you that is your problem not a dolls.