Toy manufacturer Mattel expanded its doll line on Tuesday with a Barbie with Down syndrome. The brand wants to appeal to even more children with a doll in which they recognize themselves and which reflects their environment.
With the launch of the new doll, Mattel wants to contribute to combating stigma in society.
“Playing with a doll that comes from another world can give the child more understanding and a greater sense of empathy. And that leads to a more inclusive society in which there is room for everyone,” says Lisa McKnight on behalf of the doll maker in the press statement. “We want to give all children the chance to see themselves in Barbie while encouraging them to play with dolls that don’t look like them.”
‘Eyes are slightly slanted’
The new doll’s face and body are “a faithful representation” of women with Down syndrome. For example, the doll is shorter and has a longer upper body. “The face is rounder, with smaller ears and a flat bridge of the nose, while the almond-shaped eyes are slightly slanted,” reports Mattel. To make the doll resemble a lifelike person with Down syndrome as much as possible, the manufacturer has worked closely with the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) from America.
One of the ambassadors helping with the launch of the new barbie doll is the Dutch model and influencer Enya (26). She says: “As a child, Barbie was a big part of my childhood and my sister’s, so the fact that there is now a Barbie that looks like me and I can identify with is indescribable. It is so important that children become aware of diversity and inclusion at an early age and that they see that there is no single ideal. That you, me, and everyone else, belong, that we are all beautiful, and that Down syndrome is part of us, society and the world.”
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Wheelchair
Mattel wants to be inclusive with the Barbie doll line. There are dolls with the skin condition vitiligo, a doll in a wheelchair, a Ken with a prosthetic leg and a doll with a hearing aid.
Other toy manufacturers also have this goal. In February, for example, Lego introduced a new generation of characters that ‘should be better suited to the current living environment of children’. The characters show a diversity in gender, ethnicity and physical and mental characteristics. For example, they have abnormal limbs or vitiligo.
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