Barbie turned 40 yesterday — without a single wrinkle or laugh line and void of any cellulite.

She may look a little more athletic now, due to guilt placed on manufacturers about her imaginary body, but she still wouldn’t be able to support the weight of her breasts if she was alive.

While Barbie is a plastic toy figurine, and obviously not real, she is not the lone figment of our imagination.

The models on the covers of magazines are just as fantasy-laden as the lifeless doll.

Cindy Crawford’s measurements are 34-26-35. Her height is 5 feet 9-1/2 inches, but her dress size is an eight. Naomi Campbell’s measurements are 34-24-34.5. She is also 5 feet 9 1/2 inches and a size eight. Each tilts the scales at an unthinkable 115 pounds.

They’re the hyper-amplification of the American male sex fantasy — upstaging all the Pam Andersons and Claudia Schiffers twofold, pushing the standards of the female form far beyond the reach of any earthgirl.

With their shoulder bones protruding and their spinal vertebrae running a dented line down their backs, the models of today sometimes look like they walked straight out of the Holocaust.

A large majority of models are plagued with eating disorders due to the strenuous demands of the profession. Many of them resort to using heroin or cocaine to keep down their weight.

Their exercise routines usually take four hours and if anything enters their mouths, it’s not until the end of the day (to avoid bloating). Even then, it’s only rabbit food.

In fact, models rarely have the ability to menstruate because their body fat is not prevalent enough, leaving them with a medical condition called amenorrhea.

Preparing for a shooting session, a lot of methods are used to primp models for the camera. Strong tape binds loose skin at the back of their thighs, hiding extra flesh and smoothing the surface.

Body make up rubs out color variations. Lighting and positioning casts the model’s form in complimentary shadows and shapes.

But the real touching up isn’t even done yet because the photograph hasn’t entered the world of computer enhancing and tweaking.

The whites of a model’s eyes are made perfectly white and are sprinkled with gold flecks. Her lips are reddened and swollen and her legs are stretched 15-20 percent. Even Cindy Crawford’s hips are sliced off with a drag of the mouse.

Other times, the computer creation isn’t even a falsified image, but it’s fabricated all together. Cover models often don’t exist but are simply morphed compilations of various women’s features — combined to be the perfect person.

There are three main reasons why this reality should be disturbing.

First, young women and girls who see such images strive to achieve a similar look and often wind up with an eating disorder or smoking addiction.

Second, men who see these pictures and mistake them to be real, existing women are going to be very disappointed in what they find.

Struggling to find their significant other meeting their ideals, men will resort to looking at imaginary women in magazines — which undoubtedly would devastate and rip the heart out of their mates if they knew they were going to look at other women for pleasure. The result could be a rocky sexual relationship and a lot of severely depressed women.

Third, the portrayal of women as sex objects is highly detrimental to affirmative action and the liberation of women.

Aqua came out with a pop song about Barbie in 1997. The essence of the song is captured in these lyrics: “I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world … you can brush my hair, undress me everywhere.”

The success and popularity this song received is a clear sign that there is a lot of work to be done when it comes to the respect for women as more than simply sex items.

It is disturbing to know that women who pose in highly provocative and pornographic ways are selling themselves as prostitutes for masturbation. It’s frustrating that men don’t refrain from looking at women like that — instead of looking to the mind, intellect and character of a woman.

But until men in our society stop watching degrading films, stop listening to derogatory lyrics and stop making private jokes among friends, nothing is going to change. Women need to step up and demand more respect.

Women, don’t promote yourselves as sexual items.

Stand up against the stereotypes, and demand that men respect you as a person; and men, look honestly at your attitudes and decide to resist your animal urges.

---

April Goodwin is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Ames.