Barbie maker’s first PC ‘gender-neutral’ dolls
SHE may have been a firm favourite with generations of young girls, but in recent years Barbie has come in for criticism for pandering to sexist stereotypes.
Now, in a world of gender fluidity and diversity awareness, the doll’s maker Mattel has launched the first gender-neutral dolls.
Designed to ‘celebrate the positive impact of inclusivity’, they have no curves and far less pink clothing.
There are six Creatable World kits in a variety of skin tones and the carefully styled facial features betray no obvious gender.
Each doll looks like a slender seven-year-old with short hair, but comes with a wig of long hair or braids and a wardrobe of hoodies, sneakers, T-shirts, trousers and skirts.
Mattel is promoting the £34.99 dolls on the basis that they can be described using various pronouns – him, her, them and the gender-neutral ‘xem’.
Its president Richard Dickson insisted the firm was not making a political statement, saying: ‘We’re not in the business of politics. Our job is to stimulate imaginations. I think if we could have a hand in creating the idea that a boy can play with a perceived girl toy and a girl can play with a perceived boy toy, we would have contributed to a better, more sensitive place of perception in the world today.’
Megan Perryman, of Let Toys Be Toys, which encourages retailers to stop categorising toys, books and clothes by gender, said: ‘Children will see themselves reflected in the doll.’
But Piers Shepherd, of the Family Education Trust campaign group, said: ‘While these toys may seem harmless, there is a sinister agenda behind them. They promote the idea that children can define their own gender. Mattel should not become a tool of the transgender lobby.’