The new era of Barbie?

Ashley Graham is a 29-year-old plus size model that has been breaking barriers in the fashion industry. Graham has been in the cover of the American and the British Vogue, has a swimwear, lingerie and dress line for plus size women, and was the first plus size model to appear on the cover of the magazine Sports Illustrated. The model is an advocate for body positivity and self-love. She is responsible for the hashtag #BeautyBeyondSize, and has been a huge force in the fashion industry's acceptance of more than the "regular sized" beauty. The model was part of Glamour's "Women of the Year" in 2016, and in the same year she was part of Forbes' magazine "30 under 30" list. This year Graham's name can be found alongside some pretty big names in TIME's magazine "The 100 Most Influential People" list.

As we've been studying, Barbie doll has always been associated with unrealistic body images and expectations of how women should be. Now, Mattel seems to be trying to distance itself from this image and painting a better picture. Indeed, in 2015 Mattel released a line of dolls called "Sheroes", that features names like  Ava DuVernay (director of the film Selma) or Sydney Keiser (a 5-year-old fashion designer), among others. This line was created to celebrate influential women, and only a few have the privilege to belong here. These dolls were a one of a kind edition and cannot be bough. There's also another "Shero" that was not part of the first line that came out, this doll is a look-a-like of Gabby Douglas, the American olympic gold medalist.

More recently a new woman has been added to the Sheroes list.That woman is Ashley Graham, the plus size model and activist that has been teaching women everywhere to love themselves the way they are. Probably seeing how Graham's influence has been shapping the fashion industry, Mattel decided to partner up with her to create her very own Barbie doll. The model was super excited about it, but had some requests regarding the doll's appearance. The doll had to be exactly like her, with a tummy, thicker arms, thighs that touch, and cellulite. Mattel could not satisfy Graham's last request, stating that recreating cellulite on plastic was something very difficult. However, Mattel did make the doll as the model requested, and when she was given the doll, Graham lifted the doll's dress to make sure that her thighs were indeed touching. She was very pleased with the outcome and has received tons of support from her followers, as well as from fashion magazines. People that look up to Graham state that they are very happy that there's finally a doll that represents their actual body.

´

But this is not the first "plus size" doll Mattel produces, they had released a curvy Barbie doll to embrace body diversity earlier. They also released Tall and Petite Barbie dolls to celebrate body diversity. However, Mattel still has a long way to go in body positivity and in supporting the embracing of one's body the way it is, since the brand is still associated with the "perfect" type of body, and the unreal measurements no woman has (unless she subjects herself to surgery).

Catarina Coelho, Nº 146208