I don’t know too many women, if any, who can say they were never fans of Barbie. I mean, how can you not be a fan? She’s Barbie, when I was coming up, it didn’t get too much better than that. I remember including Barbie items on my Christmas list until I was practically a teenager.
Back then, I never really paid much attention to her body type. That wasn’t really a thing for me. I was always skinny and small for my age, until I blossomed into adulthood, of course. And then, body type didn’t mean much to me, because for the most part, I was happy with who I was.
Although I felt that way, I was aware that some women were bothered by Barbie’s “perfect” body. Some even, went to great measures in an attempt to achieve a look as close to hers as possible. I didn’t share this sentiment at all, but I understood why one would be upset with Barbie only having that one figure. Barbie was supposed to be every woman, only she didn’t represent that physically. With Barbie you could be a doctor, an astronaut, professor and pilot in one day, but you couldn’t be plus sized, or a little on the short side, or even an Amazon.
Barbie has gone through many changes since I was a little girl. From adding skin complexions, to increasing professional themes, and more recently offering various hair types and textures. The new body types being rolled out this year, have to be the best change yet. Today, the brand announced the tall, curvy and petite versions of Barbie as part of the expanded 2016 collection, and with those changes come new skin tones, professions and more.
Many people have been buzzing on social media, mainly in praise of this new move, although some are doubtful about the motive. Others are questioning why it took so long. I’m personally pretty excited about this new look. There will be seven new skin tones as well, but the body types are what get the greatest applause from me.
I’m happy to know that there’s now a doll to represent for petite women like myself, a curvy doll for those of us with a little more to love, and the tall version for the long-legged beauties.
I’m not sure what the outcome will be for Barbie’s new look, but I must say it’s refreshing to see. You can head over to Barbie.com to see the new dolls for yourself, if you’re curious.
