“I’m a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world”. Aqua’s song didn’t like too much mattel, but the truth is that it perfectly described a reality that we have seen reflected in the film that has just been released. Although the children of our world have been playing with the doll for more than six decades, in reality Barbie has her own world. A world that, according to an opinion piece published in Scientific American by the scientific Abigail Tulenkodefies physics as we know it.
For a long time the impossible barbie measurements, because they could lead the girls who played with her to feel bad about their own bodies. For this reason, little by little Mattel has been releasing new models of the doll, much more inclusive, as much in relation to the body as to his profession or the color of his skin. This would not only represent the majority of women. It would also be something achievable, because the truth is that if the original Barbie existed in real life, with those measurements, couldn’t stand up. Now, what if in her world that was the norm? Perhaps Barbie is not excessively skinny, but adapted to your world.
One of the most famous scenes in the film is the one in which Barbie is dropped directly from the house to the car, floating delicately. But when he arrives in the human world he falls with a crash. It is another sign that in the world of the doll the acceleration due to gravity is not the same as in ours. Let’s see then how, based on assumptions, you can imagine what the laws of physics would be in the hypothetical world of cotton candy from which the doll played by Margot Robbie.
Gravity in the hypothetical world of Barbie
Any object on Earth is subject to a force known as weight. This is the force with which it is attracted to the earth’s surface due to the acceleration of gravity. In fact, the weight force is calculated by multiplying the mass (in kg), by the acceleration of gravity (in meters per second squared).
The acceleration due to gravity is different in the surface of each planet. Even within the same planet it can vary slightly with height. For this reason, although we colloquially call weight what we see on the scale, that is really just the mass. And although the mass of a person will always be the same, his weight will vary if he changes planets.
As Tulenko well explains in his article, it can be intuited that the acceleration due to gravity in Barbie’s world is not the same as on Earth. There are several reasons why this can be suspected and one of them is precisely her body.
The measurements of the original Barbie are 100-45-80. That is to say, his chest is too big in proportion to his hips; but, above all, to his waist. If a woman in real life had those measurements, her back would not support her weight and she would not be able to walk. She would fall. But what would happen if her weight was less? I mean, what if the acceleration due to gravity in her world was much lower?
On the other hand, it could be that she was so thin precisely because of her weightlessness. The author of the article Scientific American cites a 2018 interview with the head of NASA’s Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory, scott smithin which he gives a reason why astronauts tend to lose weight in space. It’s not just because the food there tastes different and isn’t especially greasy. There is also the situation that weightlessness prevents stretching stomach, so signals are sent to the brain that stop the feeling of hunger. This prevents a person in space eat more than you can.
On the other hand, in one of the Barbie animated movies that have been published previously, we see a scene that would finish confirming this hypothesis. It shows a puppy riding on a horse. According to newton’s laws Governing current physics, when the dog is jerked up by the horse’s movement, it should land back in the same place. However, scrolls backs. There is no inertia that returns it to the same place and, therefore, neither is there an acceleration of gravity as we know it.
What about the wind?
On the other hand, it seems that in the world of Barbie no wind. The first reason why we can deduce it is that in other movies, as well as in the representations of the toy, we often see how he travels in his brand new convertible without breaking a sweat.
In addition, its dozens of houses and mansions they are usually open in front, something that would be very uncomfortable if there were wind in their world.
All of this, of course, is just a nice analysis of a movie that is causing a furore. That’s not what we should stay with when we see it. And, in fact, although this hypothesis could explain the impossible measurements of the original doll, the decision to make a more inclusive Barbie is undoubtedly a great success. Even if it’s entirely plausible in their world, the truth is that dolls are in ours and must play by our rules. Boys and girls should look in the mirror of the Barbie from the movie or in the one of the inclusive dolls. Or, better yet, they shouldn’t look in any mirror. Because each person is unique and no one should consider themselves inferior for not matching the stereotypes created by a toy. Not in this world, not in any other.