Barbie Against Stereotypes: Beauty In Her Curves
Barbie – the most famous doll of all time and the most talked about – finally puts aside the stereotype of female beauty, changes her physical appearance to show girls more realistic versions of the female body.
For the first time since its debut (in 1959), the manufacturer Mattel has added to the collection new models of different sizes and with different colors of leather. After decades of controversy regarding the measures that have influenced the concept of beauty, the manufacturer meets the demand of thousands of people.
He presents the Barbie in its new versions: “ petite”, “tall” and “curvy” , with which the doll will appear shorter, taller and with more curves, respectively.
Among all, the one that most attracted attention is the curvy one, with larger hips and a silhouette that is very close to the real model of female beauty.
A new challenge for Mattel: the curvy Barbie
For more than 50 years Barbie has maintained the tall and slim figure, which strayed far from the real female body, but which has led girls all over the world to aspire to a slim and “perfect” silhouette.
For this reason, she received strong criticism and caused outrage at the concept of beauty she presented to little girls, being more than just a doll.
Despite this, it was one of the most popular and best-selling toys in all of history, triumphing in sales almost all over the world.
However, everything has changed for Mattel in recent years. What had been his best-selling toy for decades found himself in the midst of a crisis that caused millionaire losses.
During 2012, there was a 20% drop in sales compared to previous years. The company wanted to innovate by launching collections that included new professions and interesting accessories, but it did not recover its place of honor, indeed the data of 2014 and 2015 signaled a further decline.
The head to head with Elsa, protagonist of Frozen
The arrival on the market of dolls like Elsa – the protagonist of the Frozen cartoon – caused the producers of Barbie to lose up to 500 million dollars.
Although Elsa is blonde and similar in size to Barbie, she represents strength, courage and brotherhood. It therefore attracted not only the attention of the girls, but also of the parents.
For this Evelyn Mazzocco, vice president and general manager of the brand since 2014, began to investigate who hated the doll and what could be the reasons for so much disagreement.
As his parents were choosing more inspiring toys, he started the Alba Project. This project expands the concept of beauty that girls have from an early age.
“We believe we have a responsibility towards girls and their parents, to reflect a broader vision of beauty”, declared Mazzocco.
Among the changes, different skin tones and some hairstyles have been added, as well as the ability to flex the feet so that you can finally have the possibility to wear footwear other than heels.
After the official announcement of the new models given on Twitter or in the press – as through the prestigious Time magazine – with covers dedicated to Barbi, we can say that this is one of the most important events for the commercial re-presentation of the ideal of the female body.
However, there is a risk of failing with this initiative, for having given a name to every “physicist” and because possible reactions are ignored.
The consequences of the Alba Project
Pending this, Mattel is also preparing a line with which we will try to remedy the consequences of the Alba Project.
Until January, the dolls were available for pre-sale on shop.mattel.com, before being accessible to the public starting in February.
The display in physical stores in the United States took place in early March, when they were also shipped to other countries.
Will this project be successful? For now it is difficult to answer this question. We hope that in a few months the company will make public the impact of this innovation, especially from a social point of view, on the market.
