Image: Richard Newton
Barbie dolls are available in blonde. If you want another shade you can purchase a friend of hers, the brunette Princess Laura, redheaded Midge or raven haired Shani. Little sister Skipper once dabbled in strawberry blonde.
If it’s a bald Barbie you’re after however, you’re going to have to do a little hairdressing of your own.
Or you can join a page on Facebook, headed 'Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let's see if we can get it made.' What it lacks in catchy title it makes up for in good intentions.
“We would like to see a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made to help young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, Alopecia or Trichotillomania.”
If it’s a bald Barbie you’re after however, you’re going to have to do a little hairdressing of your own.
Or you can join a page on Facebook, headed 'Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let's see if we can get it made.' What it lacks in catchy title it makes up for in good intentions.
“We would like to see a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made to help young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, Alopecia or Trichotillomania.”
The campaign for a bald Barbie follows the making of a one of a kind Barbie by Mattel for 4 year old girl, Genesis, who had lost her hair due to cancer treatment. Genesis Reyes told people she did not feel like a princess without her hair, the CEO of Mattel was contacted and the bald Princess Genesis Barbie was made.
The Beautiful and Bald Barbie campaigners believe a bald Barbie, with scarves and hat accessories could be used as a coping mechanism.
Usually I don’t have any problem with Barbie, as mentioned here. I do have a problem with princess culture and the seemingly accepted idea that ‘every girl has the right to feel like a princess’.
Every girl has the right to feel like a dairy farmer but I don’t see parents scrabbling for plastic cows and podcasts of The Archers for their little girl.
From the perspective of pure play therapy, maybe a bald Barbie is a good idea. Barbie is a fantasy figure, a toy which children can use to either replay out the adult world they see, or go crazy with their imagination.
If the hope is that Bald and Beautiful Barbie will be presented as a princess however then, hair follicles or not, the message is still ‘your looks are tied up with your self-worth’.
Recently the comic Margaret Cho posted on her blog explaining a Twitter skirmish she had been part of. Cho had posted an image of her new tattoo and received compliments, but also criticism, which she responded to. “I blew a f*cking gasket.”
“…when you grow up the way that I did, with kids at school throwing rocks at my face … because it was so ugly to them and they wanted the blood from my wounds to cover it so it wouldn’t have to be seen”
Cho’s background, growing up “different” has naturally made her sensitive to any negative comments concerning the superficial. Any criticism of this ilk takes her back to being bullied for her looks as a child.
“All I am trying to say is that no young girl should be told she is ugly.”
By extension, complimenting girls only on their looks is also potentially damaging. Not every little girl will match what society has deemed beautiful. In fact, very few will. But every little girl will have a talent, or something that makes her remarkable to others.
I have no doubt that Genesis and all other young girls who have lost their hair due to various factors have something exceptional about them. That’s what matters.
Squeamish Kate
The Beautiful and Bald Barbie campaigners believe a bald Barbie, with scarves and hat accessories could be used as a coping mechanism.
Usually I don’t have any problem with Barbie, as mentioned here. I do have a problem with princess culture and the seemingly accepted idea that ‘every girl has the right to feel like a princess’.
Every girl has the right to feel like a dairy farmer but I don’t see parents scrabbling for plastic cows and podcasts of The Archers for their little girl.
From the perspective of pure play therapy, maybe a bald Barbie is a good idea. Barbie is a fantasy figure, a toy which children can use to either replay out the adult world they see, or go crazy with their imagination.
If the hope is that Bald and Beautiful Barbie will be presented as a princess however then, hair follicles or not, the message is still ‘your looks are tied up with your self-worth’.
Recently the comic Margaret Cho posted on her blog explaining a Twitter skirmish she had been part of. Cho had posted an image of her new tattoo and received compliments, but also criticism, which she responded to. “I blew a f*cking gasket.”
“…when you grow up the way that I did, with kids at school throwing rocks at my face … because it was so ugly to them and they wanted the blood from my wounds to cover it so it wouldn’t have to be seen”
Cho’s background, growing up “different” has naturally made her sensitive to any negative comments concerning the superficial. Any criticism of this ilk takes her back to being bullied for her looks as a child.
“All I am trying to say is that no young girl should be told she is ugly.”
By extension, complimenting girls only on their looks is also potentially damaging. Not every little girl will match what society has deemed beautiful. In fact, very few will. But every little girl will have a talent, or something that makes her remarkable to others.
I have no doubt that Genesis and all other young girls who have lost their hair due to various factors have something exceptional about them. That’s what matters.
Squeamish Kate
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