Coming

Barbie Makeovers

Everything is coming up Barbie now that Greta Gerwig’s much-anticipated feminist take on America’s favorite fashion and cultural icon has hit theaters. Google even unveiled its version of a red carpet (a new sparkly pink theme) for the film’s release.

There’s been a 7,900% spike in Google searches for the term “Barbiecore” since the film’s July 21, 2023, debut. TikTok reported that #barbiecore received more than 270.2 million views and counting. (“Barbiecore” refers to the Barbie aesthetic and hot pink fashion trend).

From fast fashion and food and beverages to skin and hair care, every brand seems to be jumping on the Barbie bandwagon (which happens to be a hot pink Corvette). All the collabs and pink are having spillover effects on requests for plastic surgery, too. A plastic surgeon in Long Island, NY, is reportedly offering mix-and-match Barbie Makeovers for $120,000. The package includes one of three body surgeries, a facial surgery, Barbie hair, pink nails, and whiter teeth.

It’s not without precedent. Every few years the media fixates on folks who undergo procedures to look more like Barbie or her sidekick, Ken (Google Dalia Naeem, Celso Santebañes, or Rodrigo Alves for some recent examples). There has even been a rush on Barbie vagina surgery or labiaplasty.

Barbie dolls have evolved quite a bit since the OG it-girl hit store shelves in 1959 with her hourglass figure, long, straight blond hair, perky breasts, fair skin, and blue eyes. Barbie maker Mattel has since embraced diversity, equity, and inclusion. Today’s Barbie dolls have more realistic body types, various skin tones, and hairstyles. There’s also a Barbie with alopecia, one with vitiligo, a doll with a prosthetic leg, and another who is in a wheelchair.

Hopefully, this spirit will prevail when, and if, patients ask for a “Barbie Makeover.” Any cosmetic surgery procedure should make someone look like a younger and more refreshed version of themselves…not a Barbie doll.

Going

Barbie Makeovers

"Life in plastic, it’s fantastic,” right?

Not so fast.

The risks of celebrity emulation plastic surgery can’t be overstated–especially when the object of affection is literally a plastic doll.

Fully 82% of 1,000 multi-generational females think Barbie dolls promote unrealistic body expectations to girls and women, but 53% of Gen Z women still think Barbie represents the ideal body type, according to a survey by Harmony Healthcare IT, a data management firm. What’s more, nearly one in two women have compared the way they look to a Barbie doll.

When patients come in wanting to look like a celebrity or even requesting a given celebrities’ nose, lips, butt, breasts, or abs, it’s a huge red flag. These patients’ expectations won’t be met with the surgery or surgeries, setting the state for cosmetic dissatisfaction and a worsening of any existing mental health issues.

Plastic surgery is meant to make people look like better, younger, or more refreshed versions of themselves–not somebody else. Barbie’s body looks great on…Barbie, just as Jennifer Lopez’s buttocks look great on JLO, and Kate Middleton’s nose looks great on the Princess of Wales.

It’s OK for a patient to use a celebrity’s feature to illustrate what they do or don’t want, but full-on emulation requests take things a bit too far. The growing use of AI filters such as TikTok’s Bold Glamour filter also fuels body image issues and low self-esteem.

The result? High stakes and unrealistic expectations. It is our duty as plastic surgeons to know when plastic is fantastic and when it is anything but, and to advise our patients accordingly even if this means showing them the door.