Real life Barbie doll

(Image Source: Marie Claire)

The internet can be a blessing but also a danger to many teenagers out there- some even use it as a platform to broadcast themselves and gain fame.  Justin Bieber credits his successful career to posting videos of himself performing as does the recent Rebecca Black. But now a new obsession has hit the internet, young teenage girls courting fame another way: by recreating themselves as real life Barbie dolls. A stream of videos has hit YouTube showing 16-year-old Dakota Rose, known by her fans as “Kota Koti”, encouraging young girls to look like her by posting make-up and hair tutorials which has gained a worldwide audience and over 2 million views.

Taking a dressing-up game to the extremes?

It is said that Dakota is especially popular across Asia as her sense of style appears to be inspired by the Japanese anime culture, in which big eyes and long straight hair are key features.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, concerned viewers are now warning that despite her growing success, she could be encouraging the sexualisation of young girls.

A London teen, Venus Palermo, 15, known online as Venus Angelic, has also gained popularity for resembling a living doll. After spending time in Japan where she was exposed to anime, she adopted the look, even adapting her voice to sound like an anime character. She has 78 videos on her official YouTube page, ranging from makeup tutorials to nail art, and her Facebook page boasts more than 14,000 fans.

Take a look below at one of Dakota “Kota Koti” Rose’ videos:





Beauty and obsession

So what do we think about this? Encouraging young girls to focus this much on their physical appearances from such a young age can’t be good. It has been reported that some girls under the age of 16 gets up around 5am in the morning, in a desperate attempt to recreate the doll look.


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What do you think? Are these girls just having fun or can this lead to the early sexualisation of children?