Barbie, decades ago was created by the toy company Mattel Inc. It has been inspiring thousands of young girls to dream for ages. However, their dreams have been restricted to follow normal gender norms such as being beauty obsessed, until recent years.
Recently, Mattel has been accommodating all forms of feminine or non-feminine characteristic of a female to make the reach more inclusive. Barbie lines has come up with Fashionista Barbies, which come in in petite, tall, curvy, and original shapes.
Another line, called Shero, is based on women with inspiring stories. In 2016, the Misty Copeland Barbie honored the ballet dancer’s request that the doll should “really reflect a dancer’s body and also not shy away from the fact that I have muscular calves, hips, a bust, and brown skin.”
Now Barbie dolls have a wide range of women represented, Ashley Graham Barbie (curvy). A Misty Copeland Barbie (athletic). Even an Ava DuVernay Barbie (black).
Moving forward with diversification, Mattel has decided to release a Barbie honoring the first female Muslim-American,Ibtihaj Muhammad of 31 years old, to earn a medal at the games of 2016 summer Olympics with the headscarf at the competition.
When Ibtihaj was informed of the honor, she was overwhelmed and requested Mattel that Barbie wear dark eyeliner, have big, strong legs, and that she wear the hijab, a report says on Al Jazeera
Initially the prototype was dressed in a white padded fencing outfit with ‘Muhammad’ printed in black letter across the back and was wearing a removable helmet revealing her hijab. Later she requested the fabric to be thicker.
"When I think about my own journey, me being a Muslim girl involved in the sport of fencing, there were people who made me feel like I didn’t belong," said Ibtihaj in the Glamour’s Women of the Year summit where the doll was announced and unveiled. Ibtihaj during her childhood would use tissues to make her Barbie wear hijabs so that she could make her Barbie look more like her.
With the new step taken by Mattel, Ibtihaj proudly said, “Today I’m proud to know that little girls who wear hijab and, just as powerfully, those who don’t can play with a Barbie who chooses to wear a headscarf. She’s a Barbie who is strong enough to wield a giant sabre and dedicated enough to spend years working her way to an Olympic medal."
