Celebrating Diversity with the First Blind Barbie®
Today, Mattel has taken a remarkable step forward in the world of toys by releasing the first-ever blind Barbie® doll. Developed in collaboration with the American Foundation for the Blind, this new Barbie® is equipped with a cane, movable elbows for proper and comfortable cane usage, sunglasses to address photophobia (light sensitivity), and even slightly wonky eyes to represent various sight loss conditions. Most impressively, the doll was tested by blind and visually impaired children to ensure it met their needs for texture, feel, and fun.
Why This Matters
Disability is often invisible or misrepresented, appearing either incorrectly or in a way that falls into what Stella Young termed “inspiration porn.” This issue is pervasive across movies, books, and toys.
Representation matters. It makes a tremendous difference when disabled children and adults see themselves reflected in media, toys and games. It creates a space for discussions, education, and celebration of disability as a form of human diversity.
If done incorrectly, it can cause so much harm to the disability community. Take the example of a Hollywood movie in which the main female character is a guide dog handler. Intially ; I found that exciting and cuddled up with my guide dog under a blanket to watch it. I went from disappointed to outraged. The movie di not depict one real behaviour of a working and highly trained guide dog. The dog in the movie barked almost non-stop. It walked behind the person and she dragged him along with the harness. Seriously? And to top it all up, the dog kept walking her into things, including some big champagne glass pyramid. While some might say this was done for comic effect or “that’s not that bad”. It is. Hugely so. Many people who have never been in contact with a guide dog watch that and it just strengthens their view on service dogs and especially supports their view that they shouldn’t have access everywhere as they obviousely don’t behave.
I could go on with lots of examples where disabilities are misrepresented. And sadly even more where we don’t even show up. A fact I find astounding given that we are 1.3 billion people according to the World Health Organization.
Personal Reflections on (Mis)representation
As a child, I had a Barbie®, but I was more inclined towards playing football, cycling, and running around in the woods. Yet, the significance of this new Barbie® resonates deeply with me. Not least because my eyes don’t look straight at someone, and I always have sunglasses on my head in case my photophobia kicks in. Thus, in some way, she’s me.
Growing up, I had no fictional or real blind role model to look up to. There was no cool, witty, brave, fabulous or courageous blind or disabled toy, book or movie character. If disabled people were shown it was often with a strong undercurrent of pity or even ridicule.
I would have loved something like this to show me that I was just as normal as everyone else. That I wasn’t the broken one that needed fixing but couldn’t be fixed. It would’ve made me feel proud of my disability probably a lot earlier. It might have given me confidence to deal with bullies better. Some readers might think, I’m giving a doll or a movie character way to much influence. And yes, I can’t ravel back in time and see what change it would have really created. But what I can say for certain is: It would have made me more optimistic about the present and the future. I would have seen a world in which I’m at the core and not on the fringes, overlooked and seen as a burden to the sated, worrying if I would ever have a job, a partner, or a happy life.
The Impact of Accurate Representation
The new blind Barbie® doll, fabulous and strong, having fun with her friends, represents the kind of positive and much more accurate portrayal the disability community needs. It reminds me of the wheelchair-using LEGO® figures and other inclusive developments in toys. Such representations help fight ableism, prejudice, and misconceptions. It teaches non-disabled children that disability is part of human life and it teaches disabled children that they are just as fabulous as everyone else.
Another thing I like is that blind Barbie is just as fashionable as all the other Barbies out there. Again, this might seem like a minor detail, but it is in fact a big thing. Many people believe that us blind folks don’t care about anything visual, whether that’s clothing, interior design, visual arts, or natural sceneries. When in fact, we do. Well some of us care and others don’t. Just like Sightees. Many blind people are very visual. There are blind photographers, filmmakers, interior designers, fashionistas, and illustrators. Yet because the belief that we don’t care what things look like – after all why would we if we can’t see it – means that many products specifically designed for blind people look awful and much more like medical equipment than anything close to a cool, or fashionable accessory.
Looking Ahead
The blind Barbie(r) is of course not the silver bullet for disability inclusion. That is not the point I’m trying to make. It’s also not that Mattel is a company without any problems. My point here is that this is a further step towards disability inclusion through better representation. Any such steps count to move us forward, in what has and still is a long road to disability inclusion.
While my work is not in toy development (though I’m open to collaboration in this field), I am engaged in a research project on media engagement for blind and partially blind individuals with Bournemouth University (UK), University College London (UK) and Tamta University (Egypt) funded by the British Academy. In this project, we aim to understand how media engagement can improve well-being for blind people. One of the ways this could happen is by being able to represent oneself and tackling stereotypes. Read more about it
A Call to Action
To those working on including and representing disabled people: involve us in the process. This collaboration ensures that representations do not reinforce stereotypes but instead help combat ableism and promote understanding.
Let’s celebrate this groundbreaking moment with Mattel’s new Barbie® and continue to push for more inclusive and accurate representations in all areas of life.