Barbie’s always received criticism for her non-proportional figure and perfect features that aren’t even close to the looks of regular girls and women. However, when the Lammily Dolls made their appearance last November, they received praise for realistically portraying real girls—complete with acne, minimal makeup and a larger waist size. Now, the Lammily Dolls have added another feature to the dolls that is another all too important for young women: Periods.
Yes, according to Cosmopolitan, the Lammily Dolls will now have a period! While the doll itself does not bleed (thankfully!), it comes with a “Period Party” kit that includes a pamphlet that explains the female menstrual cycle, underwear, 18 mini pads and a calendar with dot stickers to track her period. Period Party explains the motivation behind the new expansion: “Yet, while being a huge part of female life, this perfectly healthy natural process is still surrounded with taboos. Let’s start an open and positive conversation about our periods.”
Time talked to Nickolay Lamm, the creator of the product, who brought up presidential candidate Donald Trump’s controversial statements about Fox News host Megyn Kelly in August. Trump said “there was blood coming out of [Kelly’s] eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,” causing outrage.
“I don’t want to make this a whole political project or anything, but I think when [Trump] said that it was just an example of the overall culture where menstruation is very taboo, and not only taboo, but some people use it as an insult,” Lamm told Time.
The Lammily doll and its kit will hopefully open up conversations around a process that’s still often uncomfortable for society to talk about. Maybe the next doll can teach us calc before our exams?