After 57 years, Barbie looks like a real woman
FOR years, she was an impossibly thin blonde with an out-of-proportion chest.
But now Barbie is going ‘curvy’ for the first time in an effort by the manufacturers to make the doll more realistic.
Mattel said it is finally introducing a fuller-figured model after 57 years so the toy is ‘more reflective of the world girls see around them’ and to recognise how girls nowadays admire curvier stars such as Beyonce and Kim Kardashian.
The toy company also said it has a ‘responsibility to reflect a broader view of beauty’. Its new line includes four body types: the original thin model, curvy Barbie, a taller Barbie and a petite version. There are also seven skin tones and a range of hair styles.
There is a limit to progress, however,
‘Reflecting the world girls see around them’
as most of the models still wear short skirts and high heels. Barbie has had 180 careers since her launch in 1959, including a ballerina, teacher and doctor – but always with a stick-thin body.
As recently as 2014, design vice president Kim Culmone defended the doll, saying: ‘Her body was never designed to be realistic. She was designed for girls to easily dress and undress.’
But Mattel has long faced accusations that Barbie, which was based on an erotic German doll, is a ‘bimbo’ and promotes an unrealistic body image. The brand has also faced fierce competition from other toys, such as the dolls from Disney’s Frozen, and Barbie sales fell by 20 per cent from 2012 to 2014.
Evelyn Mazzocco, Barbie’s global general manager, said: ‘These new dolls [are] more reflective of the world girls see around them – the variety in body type, skin tones and style allows girls to find a doll that speaks to them. We have a responsibility to girls and parents to reflect a broader view of beauty.’
The new line will be sold in the UK from March for £9.99 each.