Hue: Pink

EMBRACING
INCLUSIVITY
In 2016, a Time cover story
headlined “Now can we stop talking
about my body?” heralded a
change. Mattel introduced 33 new
Barbies, available for the first time
in three additional body shapes:
tall, petite and curvy.
The updated range of Barbies
also offered seven skin tones, 22
eye colors and 24 hairstyles. The
following year saw the debut of
the first hijabi Barbie, as the doll
based on Olympic fencer Ibtihaj
Muhammad was added to the
“Shero” collection.
Dolls added to the “Barbie
Fashionistas” line introduce Barbies
with disabilities. In February 2019,
new additions to the “Barbie
Fashionistas” line included a doll
using a wheelchair and another
with a prosthetic leg. In 1997, Barbie
gained a friend named Becky who
used a wheelchair, but the doll was
discontinued; in part because even
after redesigns, her wheelchair
didn’t fit in the Dreamhouse. “We
are continuing to push ourselves
and evolve, as evidence of the
new additions which include
a new body, hair texture and
representation of physical
disabilities,” Mattel’s McKnight said.
For International Women’s Day
2018, Mattel released a new
batch of dolls based on “real-life
role models.” Pioneering NASA
mathematician Katherine Johnson,
aviator Amelia Earhart and artist
Frida Kahlo became Barbies in
the “Inspiring Women” historical
collection, while Olympic champion
snowboarder Chloe Kim, Juventus
soccer player Sara Gama and
journalist Martyna Wojciechowska
became “Global Role Models.”
Not all of the 2018 additions were
welcomed, however. The new
Kahlo Barbie faced criticism for
“whitewashing” the Mexican artist,
minimizing her unibrow, and
inaccurately representing her
clothes. “You don’t turn a doll into
Frida Kahlo by putting flowers in its
hair and giving it a colorful dress,”
Kahlo’s great-grandniece, Mara
de Anda Romeo, told.
The creation of a Frida Kahlo
Barbie sparked controversy, with
some saying the doll whitewashed
the iconic artist. The creation of
a Frida Kahlo Barbie sparked
controversy, with some saying the
doll whitewashed the iconic artist.
Others noted that the Barbie
based on Olympic champion
Nicola Adams, a British boxer, had
slender arms and legs that didn’t
reflect the athlete’s muscular
physique. When Iris Apfel, the
97-year-old style luminary,
received a one-off Barbie in her
image the same year, the doll
was notably missing any wrinkles.
This year, more than 20 new
“Sheroes” will be immortalized as
Barbies: activist Adwoa Aboah --
the first female Indian gymnast to
qualify for the Olympics.
8 Hue