INSPIRING: Barbie Dolls that represent real women this Women's Month
We take a look at the new era of Barbie Dolls that are inspired by real-life women...
As kids, we never really thought closely about the effects of toys and how they would impact our overall character. We played with everything and we made a game out of almost anything. It sure did well for our imaginations.
And as much as we can see that happening for our kids, too, sometimes there are those moments that we think we don't want our kids to only have one way of looking at things.
For instance, the old-fashioned and somewhat closed-minded way Barbie has been made to look for years can be damning for a young girl. She may believe that she has to look a certain way and wear certain clothes that may damage her view of the world.
Well, the good news is that Mattel have revolutionised the way they make Barbies by basing their new collection on real-life women who are heroes in our everyday lives.
They have created one-of-a-kind Barbies that commemorate the first responders and medical workers that have been pushed to the forefront since the pandemic.
"Barbie® to donate $5 for each Barbie doctor, nurse or paramedic doll sold* at participating Target locations during the month of August
"The brand is also spotlighting six women who are modern real-life heroes of the pandemic and honoring them with their own one-of-a-kind doll made in their likeness," Mattel states.
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Barbie recognizes that all frontline workers have made tremendous sacrifices when confronting the pandemic and the challenges it heightened. To shine a light on their efforts, we are sharing their stories and leveraging Barbie’s platform to inspire the next generation to take after these heroes and give back. Our hope is to nurture and ignite the imaginations of children playing out their own storyline as heroes.
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The real women who the Barbie Dolls are based on are:
- Amy O’Sullivan, RN (United States) - Emergency Room nurse Amy O’Sullivan treated the first COVID-19 patient in Brooklyn at the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, became ill and was intubated, then a few weeks later returned to work to continue taking care of others.
- Dr. Audrey Sue Cruz (United States) - Dr. Cruz, a frontline worker from Las Vegas, NV, during the pandemic, joined forces with other Asian-American physicians to fight racial bias and discrimination.
- Dr. Chika Stacy Oriuwa (Canada)- A psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto, Canada, Dr. Oriuwa has advocated against systemic racism in healthcare, which has been further highlighted by the pandemic.
- Professor Sarah Gilbert (United Kingdom) - As a professor of vaccinology, Professor Gilbert led the development of the University of Oxford vaccine in the U.K.
- Dr. Jaqueline Goes de Jesus (Brazil) - As a biomedical researcher, Dr. Goes is credited for leading the sequencing of the genome of a COVID-19 variant in Brazil.
- Dr. Kirby White (Australia) - A General Practitioner in Australia, Dr. White co-founded the Gowns for Doctors initiative – by developing a PPE gown that could be laundered and re-used, allowing frontline workers in Victoria, AU to continue seeing patients during the pandemic.
Image Courtesy of Facebook