Barbie's manufacturer, Mattel, announced Thursday that the doll has three new body types – curvy, tall and petite. Barbie will also now come in seven skin tones, 22 eye colors and 24 hairstyles. Mattel spokeswoman Michelle Chidoni said the product is evolving to "offer more choices" to make "the line more reflective of the world girls see around them."

 

Kris Macomber, who teaches sociology at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., says she's "reluctant to celebrate Barbie's new strategy because it doesn't change the fact that Barbie dolls and other kinds of fashion dolls still over-emphasize female beauty. Why must we keep sending girls the message that being beautiful is so important?"

 

Josh Golin, the executive director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, said the changes are a testament¹ to activists² who for years have challenged Barbie's "unrealistic and harmful body type." But body type "was only one of the criticisms," he said. "The other was the brand's relentless³ focus on appearance and fashion."

 

Kumea Shorter-Gooden, a co-author of Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America, has said in the past that Barbie has a bigger impact on black girls struggling with messages about skin color and hair. She applauded Mattel "for diversifying⁴ the size and look of Barbie," but noted⁵ that "European-American hair still prevails," and that the dolls' outfits⁶ still "convey a traditional and constraining⁷ gender⁸ norm about how girls and women should look."

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