Barbie's Back on the Scene

By Mashaka Williams

Barbie's Back on the Scene

                                          
So as you may have heard there are some new girls in town, and they look like us. I am talking about the new babies with bodies that look like all women. They have petite, curvy and tall.

I am a short, curvy black woman, therefore I am dancing and screaming thanking Barbie for me in the form of a doll. It took them 57 years to get it done. My take is that there will be more grown-ups purchasing the dolls.

As a mother of colored daughters it has been really hard for me to get into the idea of having my daughters fall in love with a doll that has done a poor job of representing young women, however my girls still liked the doll. So my house has Barbies and the girls love playing with them. I really think that what they have done is amazing because it allows girls to see that we are all different. This by no means should replace the jobs of parents helping and guiding their daughters on building and having good self-esteem.

We still have to do the work. We have to let our children know that they are beautiful even if there aren’t dolls that represent them. We still have to teach them that different is good. We still have to continue to let them know the reality of the world they live in. I give kudos to Mattel for hearing the masses and making the change, because Barbie is what she is a household name. Girls still love the movies and they still want the dolls as gifts. But now we have options and can get them any doll they want, even one that might look like them.

So my plan is to find a brown, curvy not too tall with a natural curly afro. Shop for the new Barbie at www.barbie.com.

 Have a great day,

Shak