I remember hearing about an artist, Nickolay Lamm, who was getting a lot of attention for bringing to light the discrepancies between Barbie dolls’ dimensions and those of normal (and healthy) young women. Today, I learned that his crowdfund mission was a success, and he’s created this awesome new doll, Lammily, whose proportions are those of an average 19 year old American girl.
Here’s a video highlighting the difference between Lammily and traditional Barbie dolls:
I think this is a really neat idea, and is something that seems so minor and simple but could make a big difference. He’s releasing the dolls, and included a sticker pack so you can give her acne, scars, cellulite – all things that real people experience but are glossed over. Lamm said that he’s going to release more dolls of different ethnicities and body shapes too.
Lamm also released this video of kids reacting to playing with her, and it’s pretty amazing. The kids noticed the difference between her and other dolls they usually play with, and so many commented that she looked like someone they knew.
I think is about time that they came out with a realistic looking barbie doll. Barbies are one of the first toys kids are introduced to, and as a society we are always questioning why eating disorders or people not being confident in themselves is such a big problem. Yeah the media does push this type of “perfect image” on us, but it also stems from the toys we have played with from a young age. I loved the video of the second graders reacting to Lammily. They like her, so why can’t we all?!