Autoimmune Warrior

The New Line Features Dolls with Vitiligo, No Hair and Prosthetic Limb

Toymaker Mattel is drawing headlines with its latest Barbie collection, featuring a new line up of dolls with autoimmune diseases and disabilities, as well as a more diverse depiction of beauty.

The lineup includes a doll with vitiligo, an autoimmune condition in which the body attacks and destroys the cells that produce melanin, a pigment that give the skin color. This results in white patches or irregular shapes on the skin that can grow and spread.

Stella Pavlides, President and Chief Executive of the American Vitiligo Research Foundation in Clearwater, Florida, applauds the move by Mattel to showcase dolls with the condition. She says that children living with vitiligo could benefit from a doll that looks like them, especially when it comes to dealing with the social stigma of the disease. Pavlides, who has vitiligo herself, recalls that the social stigma of growing up with the condition was so severe, that store clerks would refuse to take money from her hand.

The lineup of Barbie dolls also features another model with no hair, which could be appealing to young girls who suffer from alopecia, an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks and destroys hair follicles. Conversely, the line also includes a male Ken doll with long, luscious locks, rather than the traditional preppy crew cut.

The South China Morning Post reports that the move by Mattel represents a broader move by society to be more accepting of diverse representations of beauty. For example, Canadian model Winnie Harlow is famous for becoming the first supermodel with vitiligo, and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley recently revealed her battle with alopecia.

Mattel’s new collection of barbies also includes a doll with a golden prosthetic limb, demonstrating that beauty comes in all forms, and includes those with disabilities, too. In 2019, the company had released a doll in a wheelchair as well.

Mattel reports that over half of their dolls sold by the company came from a diverse set of backgrounds. In fact, a spokesperson for the company stated that their top selling doll was an African-American Barbie with an Afro.

What do you think of Mattel’s move to showcase more diversity in their dolls, particularly those showing chronic illnesses and disabilities? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!