Almost every little gal’s idea of beauty, regardless of whether she is Black, White or Asian seems to be the classic hot, leggy blonde with blue eyes as represented by most Barbie dolls in the market. Seeing a bald Barbie might come as a shocker to most children.
However, we do believe that children should be educated and exposed to different ideas and perspectives of what beauty is all about. There is no better way to start it than the new Facebook campaign suggesting that Mattel should manufacture a Barbie with no hair.
The story behind bald Barbie
Obviously there is an inspirational story behind this movement. The Facebook group, ‘Beautiful and Bald Barbie’, already has 121,993 likes to date. It was first inspired by Genesis Reyes, a four-year-old girl from Long Island who lost her hair after a cancer treatment.
The young girl stated that she no longer felt like a princess without her locks and when another parent who was at the hospital heard this. The parent decided to go to the CEO of Mattel (who was a personal friend) to create a one-off Genesis doll. Now, the Facebook group hopes that Mattel can produce more of these dolls commercially to help young girls deal with hair-loss after medical treatments like: chemo, aloepcia or trichotillomania.
It’s a very emotional toll on the child to lose hair or have a loved one lose locks due to medical treatments. The group also suggests that the “Bald Barbie” should come with scarves, hats, bandanas and accessories—it can be an invaluable coping mechanism.
Do you think that Mattel should mass manufacture a Bald Barbie?
