Although I agree that it would be good to have more realistic choices (and certainly that there should be less objectification of women), I think many people fail to realize why things like Barbie look the way they do. When looking at something in miniature, it is harder to see detail, and so characteristics are often exaggerated to make them more apparent. Barbie is not intended to be realistic; she is intended to be obviously female. She is also way too small to be a real woman. If she were realistic, she would be several feet tall. But that would not make her suitable for her intended purpose.
The same idea applies to anything viewed on a small screen. To make it easy to distinguish between male and female, characteristics need to be exaggerated. If we were looking at life-size images, then no exaggeration would be necessary to have the normal ability to distinguish between male and female. But in miniature, in order to have the same immediacy of being able to distinguish between male and female, distinguishing characteristics must be exaggerated.
The same idea applies to anything viewed on a small screen. To make it easy to distinguish between male and female, characteristics need to be exaggerated. If we were looking at life-size images, then no exaggeration would be necessary to have the normal ability to distinguish between male and female. But in miniature, in order to have the same immediacy of being able to distinguish between male and female, distinguishing characteristics must be exaggerated.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
