Barbie just got an awesome body-positive makeover
For more than 50 years, Barbie has been an icon of fashion and beauty — and body type. Now, Mattel is doing something to forever change what Barbie can actually look like. It’s introducing three new body types: petite, curvy and tall, along with seven skin tones and 22 eye colors. One tweet from a fan shows the subtle detail that makes this so amazing.
Gonna have to make room in my office for these <3 <3 <3
I’m freaking out I don’t usually reblog this stuff but this is like incredible
I always found the Barbie debate interesting because I never wanted to look like her. Essentially, I treated her as a way for me to use my imagination. I would play with her and make up stories with her, she’d go on all these grand adventures, I used her as a way to have fun and be creative. I never looked at her body and wondered why I couldn’t look like her. She was a doll, a toy, something for me to play with, to dress up and be all these amazing things. I gave her magic powers, I made her one of the Thundercats, I turned my shoe box into her car because I didn’t have the actual car, I pretty much did what I wanted and it was great.
Like this post says, it is great to have representation, but this Barbie body image argument always seems to ignore all of the things you can do with Barbie by just taking her at face value.
Birthday Mom: I want BLACK Barbie. Not Barbie’s black friend, BLACK BARBIE.
Boss: Done and done.
And every child at that party believed I was the real Barbie. Not Barbie’s black friend, The Barbie. Because black girls can be the star of a franchise too.
Winning at the world.
<3
Finally someone said it.
I use this debate every time that I’d hear people complain about Barbie and her body shape and it’s effects on girl. I never understood why people made a big deal out of it, it was just a doll - why would we blame a doll for unreal body expectations who could be any thing she wanted. A doll is a doll, not reality. I’d blame media and their UNREALISTIC expectations for us, before I’d blame a doll.
Stop Barbie Shaming.
I always felt this way, too. I never looked at Barbie and said, “Why can’t I look like you?” If anything, I used Barbie to be creative. I would create stories with my Barbies and act them out. Any kind of story I wanted. From normal, “Home from a long day at work,” to, “I have special abilities I can control fire,” stories. Frankly, she helped me be creative before I ever picked up a pencil and started writing.
My mom and I went for a walk in town today as I was having a good day. I got tired and was sitting on a comfy chair in NEW LOOK while my mom was looking for shoes. This little girl kept staring at me and whispering to her mom and I was feeling all ¬ . ¬; hmmm
After a while, as her mom was looking at shoes this little girl came over to me and asked me why I wasn’t at the dream house… > . < naturally I was all ‘Sorry…’ and she proceeded to ask me where barbie was and Teresa… and said she liked all the weird faces I always made… … then it dawned on me this little girl thought I was Nikki from Barbie Life in the dream house… which I knew because I always use her gifs as emotions on tumblr. So I made a few faces for her.
Then she asked what I was doing… so I whispered ‘I am not meant to be here, but I am getting new shoes for Barbie because her wardrobe is so big she won’t be able to find her brightest pink ones in time to see Ken tomorrow… we walked for days… then I decided to buy a new pair and give to her… but it’s a secret!’
She was so happy, she turned around and said ‘Mom, it is Nikki!’ and ran away… and her mom smiled at me and they left.
And I was all, T - T … now this little girl thinks barbie gets her shoes from New Look.
This is precious!
