Barbie’s reinvention

Barbies+reinvention

Nicole Barlik, Views Editor

For 57 years, the Barbie Company has produced many different versions of Barbie dolls. It wasn’t until last year that the Barbie Company finally included a boy in a Moschino Barbie commercial. Recently, someone created a more realistic version of the Barbie doll, and is naming it Lammily doll or “normal Barbie”.

This new doll is not the original thin, blonde, and high heel wearing doll; Lammily dolls are now realistic, coming in various body types such as being taller, having flatter feet, and also having various skin tones and hairstyles. Graphic designer, Nickolay Lamm, created these dolls for all girls (especially girls with self-esteem issues) to learn and feel that your body is perfect without looking thin. There are even stickers that allow kids to put stretch marks and zits on the dolls to make them more personal. According to The Washington Post, Nickolay Lamm also wants to create a “normal Ken”, with the doll including a little balding head and a chunky belly. The possible Ken stickers will include chest hair and dirt stains. Obviously, the designer has really put a lot of thought and consideration into creating these realistic dolls and hopes that children will understand the message.

However, some may argue that the Lammily dolls are going too far with the detail. Sixth grader, Julia Slowakiewicz, stated, “I think it’s nice for him trying to make girls understand that being skinny is not what life is all about. But, I think it’s unnecessary to make the dolls have stretch marks and pimples/zits.” Also, others may debate that girls won’t enjoy the new Lammily dolls and will go back to the original Barbie dolls. There are many people that still aren’t ready for letting their children play with more natural and beautiful dolls, but believe that Barbie dolls are still the best option for girls to play with and “look up to.”

Either way, Lammily dolls have fundraised a huge awareness and have gotten over $500,000, which is a lot more than the original target amount of $95,000. With all this money, Lamm has planned on having 22,000 orders of Lammily dolls shipped to stores to be sold at the beginning of March.

Lammily dolls are a great representation of true beauty and should be supported by everyone all around. Although, these dolls aren’t thin, they show the true reality of all girls around and can help girls feel beautiful in their own way.