There’s a little release party going on for Barbie, and it signals a change in awareness and acceptance. Hooray for that! All of those years of articles explaining that Barbie’s measurements would leave her on all fours with missing ribs to account for her mind-blowing tiny waist have finally been heard. Barbie will come in petite, tall and curvy, as well as different hair colors and skin tones to be a more realistic reflection of our American society.
I quite like Quartz in general for human interest stories, including the Barbie makeover. Here is their take on it (and incidentally, whomever dressed Barbie in the first shot should be shot, because the cutesy tank top says “Be Your Self,” with no hyphen to indicate that it should be “yourself,” as in, one word with a hard return between syllables):
Curvy, petite, and tall Barbies will do nothing to empower our girls
I think they may have felt a little pressure and saw true competition from the Lammily doll, which was created through a crowd funding site and is now going into large-scale production. The Lamilly has far more realistic measurements, flat feet and honorable career outfits. I hope that the “new” Barbie doesn’t push the Lammily out of the market. Options must be celebrated, and small businesses supported. It shouldn’t take crowd funding to get a sensible role model to girls and boys for mass consumption. Every little message we send out into the universe regarding women’s bodies, who owns them and who has a right to dictate what they should look like makes a difference in how children create their own values. Why not embrace inclusive standards rather than exclusive? (BTW, some of the pics on the Lammily site depict girls reflecting on periods – something you’ll never see Barbie doing, but every female with a functioning uterus and ovaries goes through. Why not make it a safe and open topic?)
Just as a side note, I happened to access my blocked call list today because I had to add another solicitor in my phone (they always find a way to get around the “Do Not Call” government list), and I noticed that Nashville called yesterday. That was the first time in three weeks. I guess he got tired of being milked for money by the fake profile Russian and Chinese “girls.” He’s going to keep singing the same song about how he’s never broken up with anyone, and he just doesn’t understand what’s going on. Sure ya do, Nashville. You got caught jerking off. Here, I’ll get you a Barbie doll…………
The Sick and the Dating 
Have you heard about the Tree Change dolls where a mom removed Bratz’s faces with rubbing alcohol and then repainted them? These were secondhand dolls that she did this with but they were beautiful. Her mom then knit cute outfits for them. They actually did look more like little girls, proving that so many dolls are so sexualized, not to mention made with unrealistic proportions. This mom was a scientist too so she was a smart cookie with artistic flair who just wanted to try and give abandoned dolls a second life but with more realistic beauty and features. She now has a youtube channel where she shows other people how to do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqiNDsTcknk. When she sells dolls thru her Etsy store they do go for a bit high, but she often donates most of the proceeds to charity, which is a plus.
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Yes!!! I heard about this shortly before I was visiting a good friend’s house and noticed her 9-year-old daughter insisted on walking on her tiptoes rather than normal. I turned to her and said, “You let her play with Bratz dolls.” Mystery solved. I think the revamp is great! I wish we could have been able to do this a long time ago.
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