In the past year, we’ve seen some pretty exciting changes from the folks that make Barbie. For one, Barbie was redesigned to allow her to wear flat shoes, which made many (including Barbie’s poor ankles) very happy. Even more recently, we’ve seen some sweet new Barbie ads that highlight the importance of helping girls imagine they can be anything and challenge traditional gender roles in play. Today, there’s even more good Barbie news to add to this list.
Back in April of this year, Mattel honored six inspirational women in the entertainment industry. The limited edition Barbie collection was called Barbie’s Shero Project and featured look-a-like dolls of director Ava DuVernay, actress and animal welfare activist Emmy Rossum, Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, former Lucky Magazine editor Eva Chen, country singer and actress Trisha Yearwood, and the child fashion designer and blog star Sydney “Mayhem” Keiser.
Originally, these dolls were completely one-of-a-kind and were not available in stores. Instead, they were auctioned off to benefit the women’s charities of choice. However, just in time for the holidays, you can now purchase the Ava DuVernay Barbie, thanks to an overwhelming number of consumer requests.
Yesterday, the director announced via Twitter that her doll would be mass-produced and available for purchase beginning today (December 7). DuVernay’s tweet read, “Tomorrow this Ava Barbie goes on sale for Christmas because enough folks asked Mattel to do so.” She also announced that all the proceeds will be donated to Witness and Color of Change.
This is certainly an exciting reminder that cosumers have power. A product that has so long been criticized for not being inclusive of all types of women is starting to change, and it’s helping some incredible charities in the process. While Barbie still might not be perfect, right now, I’m okay with saying, “Nice job, Mattel.”
According to a follow-up tweet from DeVurany just 26 minutes after the dolls became available, the Ava Barbie was sold out from TheBarbieCollection.com. That’s simply amazing. It looks like the dolls can still be purchased on Amazon, but you better get it quick before all of them are gone.
Images via Twitter
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