Society & Politics

Have You Seen Barbie Lately?

Have You Seen Barbie Lately?


Over the years there has been much talk about the wildly popular Barbie Dolls and their impact on young girls today. For years there has been outcry from parents asking that the dolls not only become a bit more porportionate in size, but reflect the diverse culture of the girls that are playing with the dolls. When I was growing up Barbie was this huge busted, whisper thin waisted, thick thighed, scrawny ankled doll with hair down to the back of her knees. She came in two colors, white and black, and the black doll was literally a carbon copy of the white doll with black skin, and that was it. There wasn't much deviation from that scheme and of course if you were ever looking for 'the black one,' it was difficult to find at best and since there was no ordering it online at the time, you had to wait, or more than likely your parents or friends would just get you the white doll.


Have You Seen Barbie Lately?


As a manufacturer of such dolls, there really isn't a problem...until there is a problem. Obviously people have a choice as to what they spend their money on or what toys they want their children to play with. It is also Mattel's choice what their product is going to look like weight wise or if they are even going to sell diverse dolls. Basically if you don't like it, don't buy it. Well, that's exactly what's been happening. Sales have dropped, Barbie got boring and stale, and with newer dolls on the market threatening to take Barbie's profits, suddently they woke up and smelled the dollar signs they were missing out on. It's not so much that they cared to become diversified or alter the proportions of their dolls, its more of the idea that they were going to lose out on profits if they didn't catch up to the times. Either way, the new dolls are recieving a lot of high praise.


So that brings us to the last five years or so where Barbie has made dramatic changes to the line. Instead of that really disproportionate figure doll that I knew in the 80's/90's, she now looks almost somewhat human though her proportions are still the equivalent of 32-16-29. In the 19th century and early 20th century, a 16 inch waist on an adult woman, known as a "wasp waist," was the cause of so many medical problems in the age of the steel boned corset which horrifically pushed a woman's waist inwards driving in her internal organs and causing massive internal damage and life long health problems. However, the change from the previous incarnation is what one can call progress.


Have You Seen Barbie Lately?


The second thing is Barbie has definitely upped their diversity game. In recent years they instituted the So In Style line of African American dolls which introduced a whole range of black dolls with various skin tones, but also that had hair styles that were both natural and relaxed reflecting the hair textures/styles of African Americans and with facial features and eye colors that were more natural.


Have You Seen Barbie Lately?
Have You Seen Barbie Lately?


It hasn't stopped there either. Their Fashionista line has really opened up the diversity line which features 23 new dolls with eight different skin tones, 14 different facial structures, 22 hairstyles, 23 hair colors and 18 eye colors. Things that stand out from this line are dolls with freckles, half shaved heads, red heads, Asian and Latino looking dolls and hold on to your horses, because now with the advent of rotating ankles, Barbie can, and now does wear, flats in addition to her infamous high heels.


Have You Seen Barbie Lately?


Have You Seen Barbie Lately?


Imagine that! You can finally buy your daughter or your neice or cousin a doll that actually looks like them and other diverse dolls to reflect the people that surround them in their world.


Whenever issues like this come up, I don't necessarily fault the company for creating the product of their choosing, but when your customer base is crying out for change and diversity, if anything, at the very least, a smart business person would say there is money to be made. Why just focus on just two things when you can market your product to an entire spectrum of girls and their parents who might re-think what they are buying in the toy isle because they can now find something that looks like them or their kids.

Have You Seen Barbie Lately?
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