Skinny Minnie

Photo taken from babble.com

Do these characters look familiar to you? They probably ring a bell if you think back to your childhood, which was filled with watching Disney movies all day. If you guessed the classic Disney characters Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, and Goofy, you unfortunately have guessed correctly. Barney’s New York and Disney have agreed to collaborate on a holiday campaign titled “Electric Holiday” using these characters and many others to flaunt the likes of designers such as Balenciaga and Dolce & Gabbana.

When I first saw the pictures, I honestly didn’t even recognize that it was Minnie Mouse until I read the full story. It’s a little strange that I would be seemingly okay with Barney’s promoting these clothes on stick-thin models, but the fact that they are taking a family-friendly brand and distorting their bodies for the tastes of high fashion is a little disturbing to me.

There has been controversy over this issue as a bad influence to girls as a promotion of being super skinny yet fashion forward. Many have used research statistics to back their claims, stating that 47% of girls in 5th through 12th grade say they want to be thinner because of their influences by the girls in fashion shows and magazines. Maybe there’s a reason that many girls lack the confidence and self-esteem they need and get themselves into dieting fads and fashion trends that didn’t even cross my mind when I was in middle and high school. I didn’t even pick up a magazine in middle school unless the Jonas Brothers were on the cover of J-14.

This isn’t the first time that people have brought up the issue of underweight women in the fashion world, but because the household-brand name Disney is a part of the advertisements this time, intense controversy sparks as a result of the issue. Regardless of the stances of the two companies, the issue looks bad on both parts of each company. I mean, is Minnie Mouse really that fat?