Celebrity Barbies have become something that people look forward to, a treat to celebrate the diversity and accomplishment that exists in this society. Recently, Gabby Douglas has joined the list of people to have their own doll among others like; Ava DuVernay, Zendaya, Fan Bingbing, Farah Fawcett, James Dean, and other people of note. Barbie has been around since the late 1940s and was founded by mother and entrepreneur Ruth Handler. Ruth watched her daughter play with dolls and noticed that she preferred to give them more adult personalities and lives, something that was hard to do with toys modeled after infants. Since then the company has released a wide range of dolls, including their extremely popular dolls in darker skin tones and varied body types. However, their celebrity dolls have always been something special.
The goal of Barbie has always been to inspire children to be themselves and to follow their hearts. One of the slogans for the company is “Be who you wanna be, be a Barbie girl”. Though the slogan was meant to be a catchy theme song, it also represents a lot of what Barbie stands for and encourages kids in the simplest of ways to be who they want. Even with limited skin tones and body types, Barbie has always taken pride in the diversity of their dolls’ careers. From dog walker to astronaut to Nascar driver, the dolls have really been about not letting silly things like gender get in the way of your dreams. As the company has progressed, they’ve added race and body types to that list of silly things. If your Barbie doll was a veterinarian, why can’t you be?
The important thing about Gabby’s doll is that it shows how the company is still striving to keep up with the needs of young children everywhere. The doll is apart of a collection called “Sheros”, or female heroes meant to inspire young children, specifically their target demographic, young girls. When Ava DuVernay’s doll was made it was to celebrate her directorial career. Gabby’s doll celebrates her being an Olympian gold medalist. At 20 years old, she holds two Olympic gold medals, two World Championship gold medals, and two Pacific Rim Championship gold medals. If anyone deserves to be honored next for a “Shero” doll, it’s definitely Gabby. Not only did she make a name for herself by training hard to become the gymnast that she is, but she also inspired millions of young girls and boys everywhere to pursue their dreams– and that’s what Barbie is really all about.
What makes Gabby’s doll even more extraordinary is that she joins a short list of female heroes who’ve been honored with dolls. Among them include Emmy Rossum, Ava DuVernay, Kristin Chenoweth, Sydney Keiser, Eva Chen, Trisha Yearwood, Misty Copeland, and Zendaya. These women each have different careers; with Zendaya being an actress, Misty a ballet dancer, and Sydney a six year old clothing designer. They all mirror the original Barbie doll and her many careers, at which she was always thought to be successful. It shows that not only can kids truly dream big, but that they also have the ability to achieve their dreams and become successful no matter their race, age, sexuality, or gender. As Barbie continues to move forward in their marketing and celebrating the many accomplishments of women everywhere, it shouldn’t be just wishful thinking that the rest of the world will soon follow.
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