Over the past couple of decades I've noticed that Mattel is extremely responsive to the complaints of its customers. Evidence of this can be seen in the new Fashionistas and their modified bodies. I'm not sure if Mattel wanted to shut the Barbie Body Shaming Team up, or if they are trying to compete with Lammily, but either way they've started making Barbie bodies in new, "realistic" shapes. One of them is a heavy body, referred to on the packaging and the website as "curvy." I'm fortunate enough to own all three body shapes, and the curvy body is...well, it's definitely curvy!
My curvy doll is on the right, and it's pretty obvious that she's got a different body shape than the others. I owe you a review on these, by the way; I need to speak to Talolili and ask her if she'd like to do a co-review. She too has the blue-haired doll and her opinions may be different than mine. But I digress.
Most of the responses I've seen regarding these dolls have been positive. Liberal-rag TIME Magazine even ran a cover story on the subject, lauding Mattel's move and attempt to be more "all-inclusive." But wouldn't you know, someone is having a tizzy fit anyway. Jennifer Pitt, writer for liberal-rag Huffington Post, is upset because the separate sizes are labeled. Yeah...she's mad about LABELS!!! The different-sized dolls are in the Fashionistas line, and good ol' Jennifer thinks that's putting an unfair label on them. "Why can't all Barbies be Fashionistas?" she whines. She's also upset that each size is labeled. Don't believe me? Read the article!
Jennifer apparently is unaware that the Fashionistas are a line that's supposed to be set apart from the regular playline dolls. The Basics were that way, the Barbie LOOK dolls are that way, and the Fashionistas are too. The Fashionistas are the exact opposite of the LOOK dolls and the Basic dolls, being intended as budget toys. Indeed, I got my three girls for eight bucks a pop. Without the Fashionista label, it gets a little tricky to differentiate budget doll from doll that may cost a Jackson or more. As for the "curvy," "tall," "original," and "petite" labels, let's be honest. The dolls look highly similar to one another when they're in the box. If you look up at my picture again, you might notice that it's a smidge tricky to tell the tall and petite dolls from original-bodied dolls. It's easier when they're all standing together, but suppose a shelf had a cluster of petites or a cluster of talls. How could anyone tell a difference in height if the box isn't labeled??? I admit that I had trouble telling the dolls apart when I saw them for myself. The curvy girls stood out of course, but the petites and the talls sort of...blended in, I guess you could say. I wouldn't have had any clue that they were there had the box not been marked "TALL" or "PETITE."
I thought for sure that having a chunky doll would shut the haters up, but I guess the phrase "haters gonna hate" is true. No matter how hard Mattel tries, they can't please everyone. I think they know that, and while I admire their attempts to rectify problems, I think that there's only so much a toy company can take. If I were calling the shots at Mattel I'd gather my crew together and say "Screw it, we're doing it our way from now on. We're going back to the 1966 TNT body." Well, maybe I wouldn't. Because the new bodies sure are fun! I can see a few problems that I'll discuss when I get the review up and running, but they add a lot of visual diversity to my little dolly group.
Cordially yours,
RagingMoon1987
OMG, some people just aren't happy unless they are complaining! I find the body tags pretty appropriate and agree with you about being able to differentiate them in the packaging when buying them in the store. When I shop for clothes, I need to know the sizes of them so I can pick the appropriate sizes for me or for my kids. As a matter of fact, I think the label of Curvy is much more flattering than Queen or Plus size! Good on you Mattel!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking along the clothes line too. LOL, pun! Anyway, if Mattel decides to make extra outfits for these new sizes, then we'll need to know the labels or we'll be stuck trying to shove a petite dress onto an original body and stretching the crap out of it!
DeleteA lot of writers seem to make their livings by constantly coming up with something new to complain about. It has to be as outrageous as possible for "click-bait." It's definitely true that you can't make anybody happy, and I love your idea of Mattel just telling everybody to buzz off. I also like your valuation of Time and HuffPo as "liberal rags." :)
ReplyDeleteLOL, thanks! I admire Mattel's attempts to make their customers happy, but I do wish they'd get a spine.
DeleteWell, I mean, I don't know what you can expect from HuffPo. Their target demographic is nearly "people who like to sound smart but aggressively hate thinking". XD
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I agree with your assessment. I would have to look twice to notice the difference in body shape on almost any of the new girls if they weren't right next to each other. Curvy I'd notice, but it would take me a second. Petite and tall I have actually picked up, while they were hanging right next to the "standard" size dolls, and not even realized what I was looking at until I saw the label. Then I berated myself for thinking "Did they make the box bigger/smaller?" two seconds beforehand.
LOL, honestly, I don't know why I bother to give HuffPo writers any attention. It just shocked me that these dolls have barely touched store shelves, and they're widely seen as a good thing by consumers, and yet someone's already butthurt. I'm glad I'm not the only one who couldn't tell talls and petites from originals without labels, though. I was beginning to think "Am I just dumb, or are they really that hard to differentiate?"
DeleteI'm not a Barbie collector, but I think it's great that Mattel have come down to earth and discovered that dolls, just like people, come in different shapes and sizes and good on them for labelling them correctly to make consumers choices easier. I don't read HuffPo as I tend to stear clear of negative reading. And I am fed up with being told by the MINORITY what to think and say ... I am my own woman and will make up my own mind without imput from the negative nellies!!
ReplyDeleteYou go girl!
Hugs,
X
Thanks, chica! I've been bitten by the ball-jointed doll bug lately and I've been reading your blog a lot. Thanks for the awesome pictures!
DeleteLovely dolls!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI never thought I would see the day when Mattel created a "curvy" doll, however, I think this is great because we live in a world that is full idealistic expectations of what people should look like...just look at magazine covers for example..skinny people grace these covers all the time...wheres the realism at??? Mattel have certainly come to the party this time :)
ReplyDelete