This Is the Girl Boss Barbie You Should Be Gifting This Christmas
For awhile there, the Barbie doll market was looking pretty bleak. Full of unrealistic, overly made-up dolls like the classic Barbie and Bratz, the toys no longer spoke to the empowered little ladies who were playing with them. But then came Lammily, a realistic doll that comes complete with acne, grass-stain and stretch-mark stickers. Soon after, Barbie began to reinvent itself to be a little bit more inclusive and inspirational (case in point: this commercial). Following on that path, Mattel has just released a new doll in collaboration with Ava Duvernay, an African American director, screenwriter, film marketer and film distributor.
The doll is part of Barbie’s new “Sheroes” line, which portrays six women (and one girl) who are making major moves in their respective industries. The other five dolls yet to be released are actors Emmy Rossum and Kristin Chenoweth, singer Trisha Yearwood, fashion editor Eva Chen and 5-year-old designer Sydney “Mayhem” Keiser.
Ava Dunvernay’s doll was initially only going to be made once and auctioned off, but her fans would have none of that. After supporters took to social media to voice their opinions, Mattel listened and has instead released the doll to the public today, with all of the proceeds going to Color of Change, a group that presses the government to pay attention to African-American issues, and Witness, a group that teaches activists how to use video safely and effectively to create change.
Ava shared a photo of her doll on her Twitter yesterday alongside the caption, “Tomorrow this #AvaBarbie goes on sale for Christmas because enough folks asked @Mattel to do so. Wild + wonderful.” If you want to gift this Barbie to your daughter, niece, cousin or whoever, we recommend you head over to Barbie’s site ASAP. The doll went on sale at 10am PST today, and we’re guessing it won’t last for long.
Did you snag one of these dolls? Let us know at @BritandCo!
(Photos via Mattel)
