Barbie in the Age of DEI
After more than 18 months of development, toy manufacturer Mattel has released their new autistic Barbie doll .
The new autistic Barbie ‘s eyes are shifted slightly to the side to reflect how some people with autism avoid direct eye contact, writes Baxter Dmitry .
The doll also has movable elbows and wrists to represent stimming, hand flapping and other gestures that some autistic people use to process sensory information or express excitement, Mattel said.
She joins her disabled and developmentally disabled sisters, including a Down syndrome Barbie, a blind Barbie, a lesbian Barbie, a diabetic Barbie, a bald cancer patient Barbie undergoing chemotherapy, a Covid vaccine Barbie, and a Barbie and Ken with vitiligo . (Ken is the male Barbie.)
The doll is expected to be available starting Monday in Mattel’s online store and at Target stores for a suggested retail price of $11.87. Walmart stores are expected to start selling the new Barbie in March, Mattel said.
Apparently, making Barbie autistic was no easy task.
“That was challenging because autism encompasses a wide range of behaviors and difficulties that vary greatly in severity, and many of the characteristics associated with the condition are not readily apparent,” said Noor Pervez, community engagement manager at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, who worked closely with Mattel on the Barbie prototype, AP reported Monday.
Interestingly, in the aforementioned quote from the autistic Barbie article, AP linked to their article about the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) updating their website to read “The claim ‘Vaccines don’t cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim ,” even though the autistic Barbie article isn’t about vaccines at all.
Coincidentally, the timing of Barbie’s autism diagnosis comes at a time when the Trump administration has significantly reduced the number of recommended vaccines for children and infants. It has been scientifically proven that vaccines increase the risk of autism.