New Barbies Dolls

Angela Channing

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Barbie has come a long way from being a glamourous clothes horse pining over Ken. Mattel have now produced a range of Barbies based on inspiring women featuring Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Jean King and Florence Nightingale.

 

DallasFanForever

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I think it’s a good idea if it teaches kids who these inspiring women were. I just wonder if most of the kids playing with these dolls will even know these names. To us they’re all women who were innovative in their fields but unfortunately the kids might not know them at all.
 

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Well all is good and well except that they all have the Barbie body. I think the dolls are a bit too slim. But it's a step in the right direction.
Most Barbies today don't have "Barbie" bodies. Mattel uses a variety of bodies now with most using one with a smaller bust, larger waist and much larger hips. There's a body Mattel calls "curvy" that isn't really curvaceous, I think "plus size" would be more accurate. Ella Fitzgerald, Maya Angelou and Eleanor Roosevelt all have the "curvy" body. With the exception of their reproduction dolls, none of the Barbies Mattel produces now have Barbie's classic hour-glass figure.

Ken is available with a shorter, Tom Cruise-sized body and one they call "broad" that most would call a "dad-bod".
 

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All of which have intersectional, interchangeable genitalia, resulting in a public lawsuit 40 years down the road if you touch it. Or if you called her "Barbie" when she's feeling like Bobby.
 
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Grant Jennings

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With all of the outrage over Mr. Potatohead, Dr. Seuss and Prince Florian kissing Snow White without first getting her consent somehow they missed this doll. I won't call the doll Ken. The doll, mass produced by Mattel last year not only wears makeup, they're wearing pink nail polish.
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Angela Channing

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With all of the outrage over Mr. Potatohead, Dr. Seuss and Prince Florian kissing Snow White without first getting her consent somehow they missed this doll. I won't call the doll Ken. The doll, mass produced by Mattel last year not only wears makeup, they're wearing pink nail polish.
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It's a great idea. When I was growing up all dolls, male or female, were of white people which felt alien to me as I'm black and I lived in a diverse community so an all white world wasn't something I could relate to. It must have been something similar for children of LGBTQ+ parents. Different types of dolls not only provides a more realistic representation of the world but it also provides a way in for parents to discuss issues of diversity with their children.
 

Alexis

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Most Barbies today don't have "Barbie" bodies. Mattel uses a variety of bodies now with most using one with a smaller bust, larger waist and much larger hips. There's a body Mattel calls "curvy" that isn't really curvaceous, I think "plus size" would be more accurate. Ella Fitzgerald, Maya Angelou and Eleanor Roosevelt all have the "curvy" body. With the exception of their reproduction dolls, none of the Barbies Mattel produces now have Barbie's classic hour-glass figure.

Ken is available with a shorter, Tom Cruise-sized body and one they call "broad" that most would call a "dad-bod".
Yea Mattel have really pushed forth with more variety and being more inclusive with body types, skin tones, etc as far as Barbie is concerned. It's a much more diverse line now. Most kids can find a Barbie that's more like them than the standard Malibu tanned blue eyed leggy blonde.
All of which have intersectional, interchangeable genitalia, resulting in a public lawsuit 40 years down the road if you touch it. Or if you called her "Barbie" when she's feeling like Bobby.
Mattel recently launched a new line of fashion dolls, that aren't in the Barbie line. They are called Creatable World Dolls and they come as a doll that can be altered to be male or female in appearance and that has fashions that are for both sexes and that can be mixed and matched. I recently got them for my niece and she's obsessed with them because they are two dolls in one and can serve multiple purposes and play different roles during play. They seem very popular.
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Alexis

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I think it’s a good idea if it teaches kids who these inspiring women were. I just wonder if most of the kids playing with these dolls will even know these names. To us they’re all women who were innovative in their fields but unfortunately the kids might not know them at all.
To be honest these dolls aren't even aimed and targeted at kids. They are adult collector dolls. The Barbie play line is a whole lot less inspiring.
 

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It's a great idea. When I was growing up all dolls, male or female, were of white people which felt alien to me as I'm black and I lived in a diverse community so an all white world wasn't something I could relate to. It must have been something similar for children of LGBTQ+ parents. Different types of dolls not only provides a more realistic representation of the world but it also provides a way in for parents to discuss issues of diversity with their children.
I had a lovely little black doll that I got one Christmas and although my parents never used the term, I'm ashamed to admit that the dolls were rare and were known as 'darkie dolls' back then (late 70's/early 80's).

:fp:
 

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I had a lovely little black doll that I got one Christmas and although my parents never used the term, I'm ashamed to admit that the dolls were rare and were known as 'darkie dolls' back then (late 70's/early 80's).

:fp:

Did you know there also were Trumpy Barbies...inspired by you-know-who?

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Angela Channing

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I had a lovely little black doll that I got one Christmas and although my parents never used the term, I'm ashamed to admit that the dolls were rare and were known as 'darkie dolls' back then (late 70's/early 80's).

:fp:
When I first started school, I remember the teacher giving me a gollywog to play with. Thankfully, I can't imagine that happening today.
 

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You used to get pictures of gollywogs on Marmalade jars. I remember we always used to look to see what the latest one was. :fp:
 
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