The Barbie doll has undergone a breast reduction as toymaker Mattel seeks to appeal to children as young as 3.
Gone is the contentious hourglass figure for My First Barbie, which launched Thursday ahead of July’s live-action film concerning the icon starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
The marginally softer-bodied Barbie follows on the high heels of tall, petite and curvy iterations that were released five years ago in an enormous makeover.
My First Barbie is 13.5 inches tall, 2 inches taller than traditional Babs, with a bigger waist that de-emphasizes the bust line (it stays in place, nonetheless), and flesh-tone modesty undergarments permanently attached.
Her fashion is more kid-like, with playful heart, star and flower designs on jammies and flouncy preschool-friendly dresses and swim gear. Her accessories are larger for littler hands, and her hair is extra long for easier brushing.
My First Barbie’s limbs are moveable, like some past versions of the doll, and her facial expression remain recognizable. An enormous milestone: Her fingers and thumbs are connected, eliminating a frequent criticism that Barbie’s hands get caught in her clothes when children attempt to put them on.
Lisa McKnight, a Mattel executive vice chairman and global head of Barbie and dolls, told The Associated Press the corporate created the new edition in response to feedback from parents.
“We seek advice from parents and youngsters almost three hundred and sixty five days a yr,” she said. “We began hearing a theme around younger kids wanting to play with Barbie. Parents were concerned that their children on the preschool age didn’t have the tremendous motor skills to have a positive play experience with our traditional fashion doll.”
The primary rollout of the brand new doll includes 4 diverse skin tones and hair textures.AP
The primary rollout of the brand new doll includes 4 diverse skin tones and hair textures.
Critics of 63-year-old Barbie, intended to symbolize a lady in her late teens, have long cited her dimensions as promoting unattainable, sexualized body standards for ladies. My First Barbie, at a price point of $19.99, goes a good distance in eliminating that issue.
McKnight wouldn’t directly address the criticism or whether My First Barbie has a spot in turning around that negative view.
Research is mixed on whether Barbie’s bad rap on body issues and her adult-leaning fashion sense have any impact on children, said Jody LeVos, once a frontrunner of Mattel’s child development and learning team and now chief learning officer for Begin, an organization that creates learning apps and other educational fare for youths.
Amongst parents, she said, “there’s an enormous nostalgia factor” in the case of Barbie.
“I don’t think there’s one specific doll that’s most appropriate. I feel doll play allows children to essentially practice storytelling skills, perspective taking and social interactions,” LeVos said.
The Barbie line’s overall sales have soared lately after a period of decline in 2013.
Joaniko Kohchi, director for Adelphi University’s Institute for Parenting, questioned Mattel’s motives.
“If we’re going to take into consideration Mattel guiding our decisions then we have now already form of limited them,” she said.
Barbie’s fingers and thumbs are connected, eliminating a frequent criticism that her hands get caught in her clothes when children attempt to put them on.AP
McKnight made it clear that My First Barbie won’t be a separate, parallel Barbie universe. She said latest content featuring the doll will hit Barbie’s YouTube channel later this month, with an animated special concerning the planning of a surprise party.
Andrea Werner, a pediatric occupational therapist in West Hartford, Conn., and mother of a preschooler and an infant, supports doll play as developmentally beneficial.
“There are many dolls in the marketplace,” she said. “Firms will all the time be attempting to sell consumers the subsequent smartest thing.”
Kohchi isn’t entirely sold on My First Barbie as appropriate.
“We all know that when you’re going at hand a toddler a picture and say, that is beauty or that is wonderful or look how pretty that’s, it should resemble the kid somewhat bit more closely,” she said. “It’s actually still somewhat older than a preschooler.”
