Minnie Mouse never looked more attractive thanks to Barney’s department store in NYC. The new holiday window display is set to be a new and improved Minnie Mouse being 5ft 11″ and a whopping size 0. Well while everyone seems to agree that there’s nothing wrong with thin tall women, some are saying there is something wrong with altering the image of a classic children’s cartoon character to fit in with the “IN” crowd.
Ragen Chastain of Los Angeles feels strongly that this is incorrect so much as to set up a petition to the Display Communications Manager of Barney’s to not go through with the upcoming planned holiday window display.
There is nothing wrong with tall thin women. There is something wrong with changing a beloved children’s character’s body so that it looks good in a dress that almost nobody looks good in – adding to the tremendous pressure on young girls and women to attain photoshop perfection. The problem isn’t with Minnie’s body, it’s with a dress that only looks good on a woman who is 5’11 and a size zero.
That little girl who is going to become a 5’4, size 12 woman can’t just become a 5’11, size 0 woman when she wants to fit into a dress that was designed by someone who couldn’t be bothered to make a dress that looks good on someone who is not a model.-Ragen Chastain
The moral question is; Is this correct to have an un-realistic image for a child to see their beloved Disney character as? Or is it morally wrong to infringe on the free market?
With statistics like these informing us from the non-profit National Association of Anorexia and Associated Eating Disorders website:
- 47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures.
- 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape.
- •42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner.
- •81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat.
which stance do you take?
Is there a moral hypothetical contract keeping businesses from displaying images like these from children? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
I find myself choosing the latter due to principle alone. Even though I think this petition is from a good-caring standpoint, I have to look at the bigger picture of morality. When I ask myself “Is it fair and moral to allow anyone in business to market their product as they wish?” I find myself answering with a emphatic, yes. But what if it was racist? What if it was a racist display featuring a swastika draped in the background? I would still have to say yes it’s legal and the store’s rights should not be infringed upon however foolish their display is (it’s their own fate). Now no one in their right mind would create a racist display because it would be horrendous for business, still they have a right to do so.
Am I wrong on this? Maybe so. I’m willing to debate it further. Where do you stand? (Keep in mind that I am Jewish)
Where do you stand on the new Minnie Mouse display?
If you feel it is wrong and you want to join by signing the petition to Leave Minnie Mouse Alone, then here is the link: Leave Minnie Mouse Alone!
This is Rights of Liberty by the way, all is fair here.
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