Barbie in the Real World By: Meadow Pike

When people think of Barbie, they typically see a blonde, white teen that loves pink and speaks in a “Valley Girl” accent. Recently, however, Barbie has been breaking this stereotype by talking about controversial issues such as racism. Her most recent addition is a talk with a friend,

Nikki, who is black and has faced racial discrimination.

On October 7, 2020, the Mattel, Inc. released a video of Barbie and Nikki as part of the character’s recent “vlogging,” which is a type of diary through video. In the 3-minute video,

Nikki discusses some of the injustices shown to her because of her skin color. Alexis Snell, a sophomore at Perry High School, gave her initial thoughts after watching the video, “I believe with what’s going on in the world today it is good that toy brands are showing the children that every day life isn’t perfect and romanticized as it seems.” Barbie and Nikki describe an afternoon they went to a beach to raise money. Both decided to make it a competition and Nikki and Barbie split ways. While Barbie was able to walk around freely, Nikki was stopped by security three times. This is merely one example of the racial tension Nikki describes having faced in the video, and the vlog leaves off with the note that people can help by listening and understanding stories from their colleagues and friends about racial discrimination, as well as standing up when they see racism in the flesh.

Over the years, Barbie brand has been changing its approach to social issues with its recent release of dolls with prosthetic limbs, vitiligo, and of all heights, figures, and ethnicities.

But this has not always been the case. The first Barbie doll was initially created to end the stigma around women’s breasts and represent how the anatomy of a woman's body looks. Most dolls during the 1940’s and 1950’s were paper, and had no depiction of what a woman’s chest looked like. A woman named Ruth Handler is responsible for the idea behind the Barbie doll, and she came up with the idea after seeing a German doll with a distinctly adult feminine shape.

Released in 1959, the Barbie doll flew off the shelves. By 1961, Ken, Barbie’s boyfriend, was introduced to the Barbie canon. Christie, Barbie’s African-American friend was released in 1968 and the first Latina doll was released in the 1970’s but it wasn’t until more recently that the dolls had more ethnically appropriate faces, rather than Barbie’s face molded in a different color.

Recently, with Barbie’s vlogs and new varieties of dolls being released, Mattel is taking a definitive stance in controversial social and global issues.

Barbie and Nikki Discuss Racism | Barbie Vlogs