[caption id="attachment_76463" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Plus-Size Barbie: is There Room For Fat Barbie?[/caption]Pear-Shapped Barbie Sparks Debate About Plus-Sized-Models

The organization known as Plus-size-modeling.com has sparked an online debate about the merits of plus-size-modeling. On the one hand, there is a large and growing segment of the population that is overweight and obese. Even the rotund and corpulent are in need of fashion and models who can attractively display clothing on their larger size figures allow designers to tap into that market.

However, when Plus-size-modeling.com posed the question of whether toy manufacturers should market plus-sized Barbie dolls, the question took on a different meaning once an image of a fat Barbie doll complete with triple-chin, pear-shaped figure, and thunder thighs was displayed next to the traditional size 2 Barbie doll.

Plenty of respondents favor more realistic Barbie dolls, but just as many people have voiced opinions in regards to concerns over the obesity epidemic.

[caption id="attachment_76462" align="aligncenter" width="634"] Barbie vs a 'healthy' woman: Artist Nickolay Lamm created a Barbie-like doll based on CDC measurements of the average 19-year-old woman, and photographed it alongside a traditional Barbie doll
[/caption]

One plus-sized respondent found the image horrible because it went beyond promoting full-figured women to promoting obesity. Perhaps the artist who designed the plus-sized Barbie featured in the ad was going for shock value.

Earlier this year, another artist designed a Barbie based on the average measurements for 19-year-old girls and the result was very interesting. Needless to say, those images didn't not spark the debate that the gullet sporting Barbie drew.

On The Web:
Plus Size Barbie On Modeling Site Sparks Debate Over Body Image (PHOTOS)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/23/plus-size-barbie_n_4492487.html