New Barbie in Town

Earlier this week, Mattel (the makers of Barbie) introduced a new doll with down syndrome. The new Barbie doll is part of the Fashionistas Line, which according to their website, is dedicated to making play inclusive with a range of body types, skin tones, and varying disabilities.

Previous Barbie Fashionistas have included a doll with a prosthetic leg, one with hearing aids, another that comes with a wheelchair and a doll with the skin condition vitiligo, which causes patches of skin to lose their pigment.  As a mom of two girls, I’m excited to add this doll to our “play collection,” as we already have a few dolls with prosthetic legs, different body types & dolls of different races.

Since her debut in 1959, Barbie dolls were traditionally light-skinned, slender, blonde, with a very narrow waist, ample bosom and always teetering on impossibly high heels. However in 2016, Mattel finally crafted Barbie into a more realistic depiction by making the newer dolls more inclusive and diverse in their appearance. That year, Barbie was reintroduced in four body types, seven skin tones, with 22 eye colors and 24 hairstyles.

The new doll is currently available online for $10.99 at shop.mattel.com