I don’t know if you guys have seen or heard about the fuss over Barneys’ upcoming holiday window display , but I saw it online yesterday and had a few thoughts on it.
The display features a stick-thin version of Minnie Mouse, and there are some people (including celebrities) who are outraged about it. They say that this will give young girls, who are already bombarded with photoshopped images of their favorite celebrities, more body image issues.
Now, I admit at first I was like, what? What are they doing to our beloved Minnie Mouse? But, then I read Barney’s statement on what their window display was about and changed my opinion on it. Here is the official joint statement on the matter from Barneys’ and Disney released yesterday:
“We are saddened that activists have repeatedly tried to distort a lighthearted holiday project in order to draw media attention to themselves,” Disney and Barneys’ said in a joint statement to the News.
“They have deliberately ignored previously released information clearly stating this promotion is a three-minute ‘moving art’ video featuring traditional Minnie Mouse in a dreamlike sequence set in Paris where she briefly walks the runway as a model and then happily awakens as her normal self wearing the very same designer dress from the fashion show.”
I’m not saying that I like the stick thin Minnie Mouse, but I get the concept that they were going for. I just don’t see what has people so up in arms about the whole thing. Minnie Mouse is dreaming about being a fashion model on Paris runway, and Barneys’ sells designer clothes. I just really don’t see the problem with it.
Has society become overly sensitive to things like this?
I’ll admit that I had some self esteem issues growing up like most girls, but they didn’t stem from cartoon characters or my barbie doll. I didn’t look at Barbie and go, “Gee, I wish I had her body”. I was envious of her fabulous wardrobe, though. 😉
I compared myself to girls that I went to high school with, and yes, magazine images, too. I was a late bloomer, and I hated my nose growing up. There are still times now where I compare myself to other women, but with age that has gotten better.
I don’t think that seeing this stick-thin version of Minnie Mouse as a six year old child would have made me run to the mirror and cry because my body wasn’t “perfect” enough to wear some Lanvin gown.
I do think that all of the photoshopping done for magazines has gotten to a ridiculous level, and where that might cause some young girls to have some body image issues, but I don’t think that this Minnie Mouse display is the same at all. I think that the most important source of a positive body image starts with her parents. Unfortunately, I don’t think that some kids are getting enough of that at home.