I saw this article about Barney's holiday campaign featuring Minnie Mouse and a few of the other beloved Disney characters. The campaign centers on Minnie having a dream about being a runway model in Paris. In her dream, Minnie pictures herself stick thin. When she wakes up, she is back to normal and wearing the designer dress from her dream.
Protests have now formed bashing Barney's and demanding that the campaign change. Some argue it impacts young girls' body images making them strive for thinness. (Like we haven't heard that one before.)
This whole thing brought a few questions to mind. Do young girls really identify with talking mice? Does it matter that it's a dream? (I mean she looks good in the dress when she wakes up.) Why are her feet so tiny?
But the real question that came to mind was that if this were Mickey and he had dreamed himself up with big muscles and other "typically masculine" attributes, would there be such a fuss over the whole thing? Would people still be protesting the campaign if Mickey looked like Popeye?
Honestly, I don't think there would be, but what do you think?
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