We are so excited to share the news about Barbie’s new body image. We at Find Fashion believe that all girls growing up should be able to look at themselves with confidence and believe that they are just as beautiful as anyone else. Barbie is finally on board with setting young girl’s body images on a positive path with her new body shapes. For the first time in history Barbie now is available in four body types: (petite, tall, curvy, and wasp-waist original), seven skin tones, and twenty-four hairstyles including Afros and a Sapphire-blue tone. The doll also provides 180 different career options for the beauty herself. Time reports that 92 per cent of girls aged three to twelve have owned a Barbie, but that sales dropped twenty percent from 2012 to 2014.
Evelyn Mazzocco, a mother of three girls, was brought in as head of the Barbie brand in 2014 and immediately set to work looking at the doll’s image issues. Mazzocco stated, “I wanted to remind myself every time I came to work about the reality of what is going on with the brand,” she told Time. Barbie will wear less make-up going forward, and now boasts articulated ankles so that she can wear both flats and heels. Of course a testing process was required to expose the dolls to the most important audience of all – children. “The adult leaves the room and they undress the curvy Barbie and snicker a little bit,” said Tania Missad, who runs the research team for Mattel’s girls portfolio. “For me, it’s these moments where it just really sets in how important it is we do this. Over time I would love it if a girl wouldn’t snicker and just think of it as another beautiful doll.” Of course overtime that hope will become a reality, however the process will remain slow. After generations of setting young ladies to a specific standard, creating a variety of standards now with Barbie will be a process. It is so important to set a positive images for young girls these days, with technology at the pace it is, more and more young girls are susceptible to body images issues, eating disorders, and low self-esteem at a younger age than ever before. We here at Find Fashion are proud that Barbie’s is taking the first step in the right direction to change this social problem, and for that we tip our hats to you Barbie!
Xx, B