"Doll #135 with vitiligo": Are alopecia and vitiligo Barbie worth the hype?

Pediatric Dermatology
Syed Fazal Hussein Shah

Abstract

Toy manufacturer Mattel released a new line of diverse Barbie dolls earlier this year, including dolls with alopecia and vitiligo. The new dolls have been widely celebrated, with both media and dermatologists proposing that the dolls could provide significant benefits for the low self-esteem and societal exclusion suffered by children with similar dermatoses. However, the reality may be very different. Here, we present existing research on the impact of diverse dolls on children's play and psychology to argue that the dolls' proposed benefits for children with alopecia and vitiligo are unlikely to materialize; rather, alopecia and vitiligo Barbie could prove more harmful than beneficial.

References

Sep 2, 1998·The Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis·A R Turkel
Aug 23, 2008·The British Journal of Dermatology·M W Linthorst HomanJ P W van der Veen
Jan 8, 2011·Sex Roles·Doeschka J Anschutz, Rutger C M E Engels
Nov 19, 2013·Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV·Ö BilgiçS Yılmaz
Mar 5, 2014·Obesity Reviews : an Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity·Stephan Rössner
May 20, 2014·American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part a·Sayoni SahaIra T Lott

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Citations

Nov 3, 2021·Pediatric Dermatology·Michelle S LeeVinod E Nambudiri

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