MATTEL RELEASES FIRST BLIND BARBIE DOLL
Get ready for more inclusivity as Mattel launches Blind Barbie.
Not only is this a historic moment for both toy manufacturers and the blind community, but it’s also a massive step towards more inclusivity for the disabled.
Mattel has done their homework as the blind Barbie comes with a white and red cane with a marshmallow tip. She also wears sunglasses on her to provide additional eye protection.
According to the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) which partnered with Mattel to make this happen, her eye gaze has been designed to face “slightly up and out”.
This isn’t the first doll to include a disabled community. In 2019, Mattel released its Barbie Fashionistas line.
This exclusive line featured dolls with prosthetic legs, hearing aids, wheelchairs, and vitiligo.
Vitiligo is a skin condition which causes patches of the skin to lose their pigment.
CNN reports that alongside the first blind Barbie doll, Mattel is also releasing a Black Barbie doll with Down syndrome to further diversify its range, a year after it released its first-ever doll with the genetic condition.
Image credit: People