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Barbie launches her first doll with hearing aids

Barbie the 63-year-old American doll maker, is launching a new doll collection in June as part of its ongoing diversity and inclusion efforts.

From the creation of the brand’s first Barbie with hearing aids, to a Ken doll with vitiligo, the line fashionista 2022 – which will launch at Walmart, Target and Amazon – will help kids “see themselves reflected,” global Barbie doll boss Lisa McKnight said in a press release.

She added that children should also be encouraged to play with dolls that don’t look like them to help them “understand and celebrate the importance of inclusion.”

For Barbie with hearing aids, the company looked to the Dr. Jen Richardson a leading professional in educational audiology, to help accurately mimic behind-the-ear devices for toy.

Richardson said the ponytail Barbie with hot pink hearing aid can inspire those who have experienced hearing loss. “I am so thrilled that my young patients see and play with a doll that looks like them,” she said.

Changes have also been made to Barbie’s stereotypical body type as the new toys aim to be more representative.

The range of Barbie dolls has become increasingly diverse in recent years. In 2019, Mattel released a blonde, blue-eyed, wheelchair-bound Barbie and a brunette doll with a prosthetic leg.

In 2020, the company launched a Black Barbie with the vitiligo skin condition — she became one of the top sellers of the Fashionista line in the US that year, according to the company. Likewise, in 2021, a black doll with an afro hairstyle was a global hit, ranking as one of the top five most popular models in the world.

Source: CNN Brasil

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