Within the scope of the Faculty Seminars of Üsküdar University's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, a panel titled 'Socio-Psychological Evaluation of the Female Body: Barbie Film Analysis' was held. Within the panel, it was pointed out that the female image represented through Barbie is not actually the first standardization on this subject, and with references to mythological stories, it was highlighted that women's roles have been determined through various figures since the beginning of human history.
The panel was attended by Assistant Professor Dr. Nihan Kalkandeler Özdin, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Assistant Professor Dr. Elif Kurtuluş, and Assistant Professor Dr. Meltem Narter from the Psychology Department.
There was intense participation in the panel, held in the Socrates Hall of the South Campus E Block, which socio-psychologically evaluated the female body.
Attention drawn to the theme of 'Fragility Bullying'
Assistant Professor Dr. Nihan Kalkandeler Özdin, who used short scenes from the film in her presentation, drew attention to the prominent theme of 'Fragility Bullying' in the film. Özdin emphasized the phenomenon referred to as 'Fragility Bullying,' which forces women to constantly be beautiful, and highlighted Barbie's place within the cultural sphere as a symbol of the female body transformed into a consumer object.
Özdin, evaluating the world inhabited by the film's main character Barbie, emphasized that this world is essentially depicted as a utopian matriarchal societal life, with all its characters portrayed as successful female figures in everything.
Connections made with the topic of 'Eating Disorders'
Assistant Professor Dr. Elif Kurtuluş, on the other hand, summarized the Barbie film for the audience before starting her analysis.
Evaluating the film within the axis of 'Eating Disorders,' which is within her field of study, Assistant Professor Dr. Elif Kurtuluş stated that as the Barbie doll, first produced in 1959, gained popularity, it began to become a generally accepted standard for the image of the female body. Consequently, Kurtuluş pointed out that very thin women were referred to as models, like Barbie, and stated that in real life, a woman with Barbie's measurements would actually be considered anorexic. Kurtuluş said, 'In the 60s and 70s, the female image resembling Barbie gained strength in the cultural sphere. In the 80s, it was reflected in the diet industry, causing this area to become an industry, and today the situation has changed, leading to the expansion of the original Barbie figure to include different female models in line with new social norms.'
Assistant Professor Dr. Meltem Narter: 'Women's roles have been determined through various figures since the beginning of human history'
Assistant Professor Dr. Meltem Narter from the Psychology Department began her speech by pointing out that there are numerous ideas and evaluations regarding women's conditions and how women should be today. She mentioned that the female image represented through Barbie is not actually the first standardization on this subject, and by giving references to mythological stories, she stated that women's roles have been determined through various figures since the beginning of human history. She specifically pointed out that mythological female figures such as Athena and Aphrodite were constructed as representatives of different social and cultural roles. She concluded her words by stating that different role definitions throughout history can always be variable, and this essentially stems from the fact that women's roles in life are not merely limited to the roles assigned to them in different times and cultures.
The event concluded with answering questions from the audience.