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Genre: A reflective essay reflects critically on personal experience and opinion in light of broader literature, theories or subject materials. As conventions and expectations may differ across contexts, always check with your lecturer for the specific conventions of the genre.
Context: This short reflective essay and reply was written in response to a weekly assessment task in ED5859 (Atypical Development) that required students to reflect on their own position in relation the following question: Do Barbie Dolls affect girls' body image? If you had (or have) a young daughter, would you allow her to play with Barbie or Bratz dolls? Why or why not?
Illnesses such as depression and eating disorders have been directly associated with body image dissatisfaction, and in turn, poor body image has been closely linked to low self-esteem (Birbeck & Drummond, 2006). Some research has suggested that playing with Barbie dolls can have a negative effect on young girls' body image (Papalia et. al. 2012), however other studies into when and how notions of body image are first created and internalised remain inconclusive. These sentences identify the topic and provide a context for the reflection. The thesis could be a little more obvious, though it is implied. As Smolak (2004) asserts, ‘We know little about the development of body image, particularly during the pre-school and early elementary school years’ (pp. 19-20). This suggests that many factors such as parental guidance and modelling, family values, abuse, peer influence, and issues of teasing or bullying (Kostanski & Gullone, 2007) may contribute to young girls’ body image.These sentences effectively integrate authoritative and relevant sources to establish a link between body image and the use of dolls. The direct quote is appropriately cited with the date appearing after the author's name and the page number at the end of the quote. The style of the paragraph is appropriately formal for this task.
References
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