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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Nottingham chapter.

After a fall in sales since 2012, it seems that the brains behind Barbie have finally decided to support body positivity by introducing a line of dolls that reflect realistic human proportions, showing that every body type is beautiful! The three new dolls include a tall, petite and curvy doll to be sold alongside the original with new skin tones and hair textures that were introduced in 2015. Barbie now reflects the diverse audience of the doll and an awareness of changing beauty ideals.

 

 

After 56 years in the industry, Barbie was due a makeover and with 33 different types of dolls, Mattel certainly seem to be making Barbie more accessible and popular among parents who wish to steer their little ones away from societal beauty brainwashing. The question is whether other companies will follow suit. Should Action Man undergo a similar transformation advocating traits other than muscle as acceptable for boys? Mattel has responded to the public’s call for social justice that is plastered across social media, but surely one toy brand can’t enforce self-love on its own.

 

 

So what do other toy companies have to say about the new Barbie? Walk into any toyshop and you will instantly realise that encouraging positive body image is one of many problems with the toy industry, which seems to assign a gender to every toy in the shop. Even if girls do tend to prefer dolls and boys cars, studies have found an association between toys classed as being for boys as often being themed around fighting, aggression and violence while toys aimed at girls often have domestic connotations. Even thinking back to my own childhood, although my parents sometimes bought me fire engines and cars, I was often bought make up and kitchen appliances for birthdays while my brother received guns and brutal video games.  

 

 

As children, we are so unaware of this segregated advertising that enforces gender stereotypes. Whilst I loved my Barbies and “girly” toys, I, like many other girls, also loved playing with my brother’s guns and Scalextric set that entertained the two of us for hours! I distinctly remember my brother being ashamed of receiving my pink hand-me-down bike and my parents convincing him it was actually red… Why should a boy feel he can’t like a colour because others have deemed it as being feminine?  

I suppose the real question that should be asked is why is a society that advocates freedom and acceptance of all kinds of people allowing these kind of societal restrictions to still exist? Hats off to Mattel and Barbie for taking steps to exemplify the kind of world we want for children and ourselves, but there is a lot more that the toy industry can do to support gender equality.  Associating certain traits and themes with either men or women can cause lasting damage into adulthood. Let toys be toys and give children and adults the freedom to be who they want.

Edited by Lucy Jackman 

 
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Student at the University of Nottingham studying English and French. Spending a year in France doing sport, sailing and marketing.