For a long time, to be called a Barbie was an insult. But Mattel, the company that makes the doll, has been trying to change the image of the unrealistic proportions and vapid mentality that its original doll has come to represent.
Barbie turned 60 over the weekend and still going strong. But, being blond, blue-eyed with a wasp-like waist is not longer the ideal for the toymaker Mattel.
One of the strategies Mattel is trying to become more relevant is by producing a line of “Barbies” modeled after women from around the world who could serve as role models for young girls.
Barbie celebrated her 60th anniversary on Saturday (March 16) and International Women’s Day on Friday with the addition of new dolls inspired by real, successful women to its “Role Model” collection.
“The Barbie role model program is Mattel’s way of honoring women who are breaking boundaries to inspire the next generation of girls,” said Lisa Perry, brand manager for Mattel Canada, in a statement..
Among the “Sheroes” include tennis champ Naomi Osaka, and several other women who lead the way in art, tech, sports, media, and business.
One dollar from every doll sold will go toward the Dream Gap Project, an initiative put forth by Mattel to “level the playing field for girls,” according to a press release. “Research has shown that starting at age five, girls start doubting their potential, this is the Dream Gap.”
“For me, it’s a really big honor,” Osaka told HuffPost. “I can only hope to be as big of a role model as those women have been. I just hope that I inspire people as well.”
Osaka, who’s half Japanese and half Haitian, added that it means a lot to her that Barbie chose to add a biracial athlete to their Shero line.
“A lot of parents of biracial kids, whenever they see me, they come up to me and sometimes they cry, they always say that their kid looks up to me and I feel like that’s a big responsibility,” she said. “But it’s also an honor because I feel like I’m representing not only me but a bunch of other kids that maybe wouldn’t have gotten that chance to be represented.”
Mattel also selected its first Maori role model in Melodie Robinson, whose likeness has curly brown hair and brown skin.
“Seriously cool to be selected to inspire young girls with the first ever New Zealand Barbie – she’s Maori and a commentator!” Robinson posted in Instagram.
Robinson was an international rugby union player who won two rugby world cups with New Zealand’s women’s team – the Black Ferns. She later went on to become a sports journalist.
“The Barbie brand believes girls should never know a world, job, or dream women haven’t conquered,” said Lisa McKnight, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Barbie. “Through our global platform, we are igniting a movement to help close the Dream Gap and further establish Barbie as the ultimate girl empowerment brand.”
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