Barneys New York wants Minnie Mouse to grace their windows this holiday season. There’s only one problem. She’s too fat. “The standard Minnie Mouse will not look so good in a Lanvin dress,” says David Freed, Creative Director for Barneys New York.
So no Lanvin, right? Not quite! Luckily for Minnie, in the wonderful world of fashion, when the dress don’t fit, you don’t change the dress -- you change the body! And Disney and Barney’s decided to do just that – they turned Minnie’s cute little rodent-sized frame into that of a 5’11” supermodel. And Daisy Duck and Goofy face similar fates. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with a 5’11, size-0 body, there is plenty wrong with massively changing the body of an internationally recognized character so that she can fit in a dress that doesn’t look good on a “standard” body.
This brings up a lot of questions: How is Goofy not tall or thin enough? What the hell are they thinking!? Do they not know that hospitalizations for eating disorders in kids under 12 are up 119%? Do they not know that young girls are already under crushing pressure to meet an impossible Photoshop standard and don’t need to be told that the answer to looking good in clothes is to drastically change your body? Do they just not care?
We need to teach our kids to love their bodies. Because kids don’t take care of things they hate and that includes their bodies. Teaching kids that their bodies are worthy of care is the first step in teaching them to care for themselves. Then, when they are adults, perhaps they’ll be empowered enough to insist on designers with enough talent to actually design dresses that look good on all bodies.
If you want to tell Disney that Minnie doesn’t need a model make-over, consider signing my petition.
