“Enable all children to see themselves in Barbie…,” these were the words of a Mattel executive when they launched their latest doll with Down Syndrome early last week.
In its walk towards inclusivity, Barbie partnered with the National Down Syndrome Society, to come up with its first doll exhibiting a body type of Down's syndrome -- almond eyes, a shorter frame, and a longer torso. The brand’s new line of dolls once again sheds light on its efforts, over the years, to be more illustrative of women’s bodies because long, long back, Barbie was a strange alien lady that pushed femininity to be a certain type.
However, what makes Barbie the most sought-after toy to date is how she has evolved from being a traditional blonde girl figurine to an inclusive global image.
Toy company Mattel’s popular doll was born on March 9, 1959, with the intention to depict the plethora of opportunities for women at a time when American women were still fighting for their basic rights. But her slim waist, blonde hair, white skin and ever-smiling face with the “perfect” features gave rise to unrealistic beauty standards that became the unfortunate archetype for women. Since the doll’s inception, its presentation has incited controversy.
It wasn’t until 1980 that the company inched towards inclusivity and launched the first Black Barbie. It was only in the late '80s and '90s that Barbie started representing women in underrepresented careers, only in 2015 that it included more body types, and for the first time in 64 years of the doll’s creation, last week, Mattel unveiled the first-ever Barbie with Down Syndrome.
Birth Of The Most Popular Doll
It is said that when Mattel Inc’s co-founder Ruth Handler saw her daughter Barbara play with paper dolls and give them adult roles, she was inspired to create an adult-bodied doll and pitched the idea to her husband and co-founder Elliot and the company’s board. But they were uninterested. Later, when Handler took a trip to Europe, she saw a German doll called Bild Lilli which gave her a brilliant idea to make a similar one for America.
In 1959, Handler officially launched a fashion doll in an iconic black-and-white striped swimwear and called her Barbie, named after her daughter. Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts and she is from a fictional town called Willows in Wisconsin, “where she attended high school”, according to the fast facts on Mattel’s website.
Popularity Vs Criticism
Love it or hate it, within years of its creation, Barbie became the cultural embodiment of American society. With the intention to “allow girls to project their future self”, Ruth’s fashion doll became a household name for an iconic artefact, lauded by many while criticised by others for adversely influencing a woman’s body image.
Children’s literature has, for generations, stereotyped gender and gender roles – from identifying the colour pink for girls and blue for boys, to imparting sweet, conformed, dependent ideals to girls and strong, independent, adventurous ideals for boys. Picture books and fairy tales that we know by heart, like ‘Cinderella’ or ‘Jack And The Beanstalk’, all conform to the traits of traditional gender roles that train young minds to produce female and male behaviours for an idealised patriarchal society. Barbie (and the male doll Ken) was no different, even as it tried to be.
Barbie’s smooth-skinned plastic, hourglass figure caused a backlash as critics felt it suggested a normalised anatomically impossible body standard, especially for young girls who played with her.
Keeping Up With Changing Times
In 2015, Mattel launched the first Barbie Fashionistas collection, which focused on increasing the availability of skin tones, hair types and body shapes in order to be more inclusive.
One of the biggest reasons Barbie has been able to stand the test of time is because of its ability to ride out the so-called product life cycle – the launch, growth to maturity and subsequent decline – that most brands go through.
Meanwhile, Mattel has expected “2023 to be a key step in its revival” after a “turbulent decade”, as reported by The Times.
Here are some of the most popular instances of Barbie representing diversity:
The First Barbie, 1959
The debut Barbie – in the iconic poolside swimsuit, long, blonde ponytail and red lipstick – was marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model". Nearly 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production. She recently resurfaced when actor Margot Robbie showed off the vintage bathing suit in a new trailer of the upcoming Greta Gerwig film titled ‘Barbie’.
In 1961, she got her first male counterpart, Ken, in swim shorts, to join her on the beach (or pool).
Barbie And The Many Careers
The first prominent ambitious Barbie was launched in 1965, dressed in the Miss Astronaut silver spacesuit, four years before Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. Since then, several space-related Barbies have been sold over the years, including Barbie Space Scientist in 1998 and 2017.
Some other prominent Barbies in underrepresented careers include Barbie Surgeon, Barbie Pilot, President, Firefighter, Navy Admiral and more.
Diversity And Inclusion
Barbie’s journey towards inclusivity began early with the first Black doll in 1968 but it was called Christie, not Barbie. Then, in 1980, in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement and the Chicano Movement, Mattel released the first Black Barbie as well as the first Hispanic Barbie. The next year, the company released the first apparent East Asian Barbie, in its “Dolls of the World” collection, but it was criticised for labelling it using the pejorative term “Oriental Barbie.”
According to a report by Mashable, the “Dolls of the World” collection, which ended in 2014, incrementally expanded racial diversity. Dressed in traditional garb from their respective nations, these dolls were created in an effort to “celebrate cultural differences and tradition,” as per a statement from the company.
Furthering the all-inclusive agenda, Barbie has been introduced in “35 skin types, 97 hairstyles and 9 body types”, in what the company claims to be “the most diverse and inclusive doll line on the market today”.
Last year, Mattel also released the first-ever transgender Barbie, as part of its Tribute Collection, honouring Emmy award winner Laverne Cox.
But Barbie’s biggest move towards inclusivity was in 2019 when Mattel launched a series of dolls reflecting permanent physical disabilities, including a doll with a wheelchair and prosthetic leg, and now, the first Barbie with Down Syndrome.
Barbie With Down Syndrome
Mattel’s new Barbie was designed with the help of Kayla McKeon, a spokesperson for NDSS. In an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America, she said that she wanted the doll to "showcase the ability of somebody with Down syndrome."
NDSS President and CEO Kandi Pickard, who was also on GMA, said, "I have to say that the Down syndrome community has been asking for a Barbie with Down syndrome, and Mattel listened, and we feel represented in our community."
Mattel’s Barbie has come a long way from the traditional tall, skinny, white and blonde American doll that was first introduced to the world. Since its inception, Mattel has broadened its definition of how it responds to different cultures and communities.
Speaking to Mashable, Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s global head of a doll, said, “When you track the brand’s history when we’re connecting to culture is when we’re doing the best.”
“We’ll always be evolving,” she said.
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