Barbie Flaunts New Body Types

The new line of Barbie dolls that introduce different body types, races, hair colors, and eye colors. (Image courtesy of Barbie official Twitter)

The new line of Barbie dolls that introduce different body types, races, hair colors, and eye colors. (Image courtesy of Barbie official Twitter)

Brittney Ho, Staff Writer
February 16, 2016

The timeless Barbie doll has shifted its iconic look. On January 28, 2016, the official Barbie Twitter account tweeted, “We proudly add three new body types to our line. Meet the new dolls. #TheDollEvolves.” This is the first time in the brand’s history that such drastic changes to Barbie’s classic look have been made.

 

The 2016 line of Mattel dolls will feature four new body types: original, tall, petite, and curvy, with the campaign slogan “Imagination comes in all shapes and sizes. That’s why the world of Barbie is evolving.” The new body types are meant to reflect a more realistic portrayal of body image for highly vulnerable children, as well as shame the idea of a perfect, unattainable body standard.

 

Barbie’s Time magazine cover (Image courtesy of Time)
Barbie’s Time magazine cover (Image courtesy of Time)

Moreover, this new line features seven new skin tones, twenty-two eye colors, twenty-four hairstyles, and many accessories. The new hairstyles feature mohawks, afros, braids, and various wild colors. The representation of hairstyles other than straight blonde hair will go miles in instilling beauty, worth, and self-security to every child, not just some.

 

In a video on the Barbie website, Tania Missad, director of consumer insights, says, “We have to let girls know it doesn’t matter what shape you come in, that anything is possible.”

 

In the February 2016 edition of Time magazine, Barbie debuted her new body silhouette on the cover, with the caption “ ‘Now can we stop talking about my body?’ What Barbie’s new shape says about American beauty”.

 

As the world is seeing a growth in societal acceptance and criticism of body shaming that brands, like Barbie, were subconsciously perpetuating, it

Original blonde doll vs. new, curvy body type and hair (image courtesy of CNN)
Original blonde doll vs. new, curvy body type and hair (image courtesy of CNN)

was time for Barbie to keep up with her changing demographic. These dolls have a large impact on how girls, particularly, view themselves. Therefore, having the representation of more realistic body types, hairstyles, and races will encourage girls to see beauty in themselves, even though they do not look like the classic, impossibly proportioned, blonde Barbie.

 

This doll does much in banishing the narrow definition of beauty that the brand was previously criticized for. People everywhere come in all shapes and sizes, and finally, Barbie will, too.