The Barbie Revolution

Some of the diversified Barbie dolls to be released on March 1st.

On Thursday, January 28th, Mattel announced a brand new line of Barbie dolls that’s a vast variation from their traditional tall skinny white dolls: Barbie will now be represented through different skin tones, heights, and body shapes. The change was announced through a Time magazine cover article titled “Now Can We Stop Talking About My Body?” published on the Time’s website.

The new 2016 Fashionistas line, set to be available in stores on March 1st, consists of four body types and seven skin tones, with 22 eye colors and 24 hairstyles. A total of 33 different body variations will be available in stages according to Barbie spokeswoman Michelle Chidoni. The Barbie doll has been around for over sixty years, and these improvements combat years of criticisms of Barbie’s unrealistic body image and how it negatively affects the body image of girls that have Barbie dolls.

“I used to always hug my barbies. I loved them so much and I loved the company they gave me and now I know that girls can hug something that is close to them. They’ll be taught to love themselves,” said Regina Brennan, a junior. Sarah Fristoe, a sophomore, had similar comments: “Although the new Barbies only represent a sliver more of the population than the original ones, Barbie is acknowledging that their dolls influence little kids’ perceptions of themselves and that representation is important and it’s a start[…] maybe theyre not much different but it’s more the principle [of diversity] than the physical dolls.”

For a messageby Tania Massad, the director of consumer insights for Barbie, from behind the scenes of the development of the drastic changes to the doll, click here.