Mattel Incorporation has agreed to make Barbie a bald friend in 2013. According to CBS New York, last year the company made a one-of-a-kind bald Barbie doll for a four year old suffering from cancer who lost her hair during chemotherapy. Now, the company is doing the same thing, but on a much larger scale. They plan to make many of these Bald Barbies, that have started being called Hope, and distribute them among hospitals across the country. This drastic movement from Mattel was not the company’s own idea. It started when parents went to Facebook and Change.org to convince the company into making the doll.
Mattel’s Facebook had this to say about the new Barbie doll. “Play is vital for children, especially during difficult times. We are pleased to share with our community that next year we will be producing a fashion doll that will be a friend of Barbie, which will include wigs, hats, scarves, and other fashion accessories to provide girls with a traditional fashion play experience. For those girls who choose, the wigs and head coverings can be interchanged or completely removed. We will work with our longstanding partner, the Children’s Hospital Association, to donate and distribute the dolls exclusively to children’s hospitals directly reaching girls who are most affected by hair loss. A limited number of dolls and monetary donations will also be made to CureSearch for Children’s Cancer and the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. Through a thoughtful approach, we made the decision not to sell these dolls at retail stores, but rather get the dolls directly into the hands of children who can most benefit from the unique play experience, demonstrating Mattel’s ongoing commitment to encourage play as a respite for children in the hospital and to bring joy to children who need it most.”
Parents of children suffering from cancer treatment, Alopecia or Trichotillomania, begin to rejoice for this Barbie doll. Jeanne, a mother of a girl going through chemotherapy said Nadia “used to have a thick head of hair. People just always told her that she had such beautiful hair. Then she started her chemo. She lost all her hair, and she would stare in the mirror like she didn’t recognize herself. And then kids started to ask her, ‘Are you a boy, or are you a girl?’”
Nadia’s mother is hopeful that the new Barbie will help her daughter and others realize it is okay to be bald. This Barbie will help those going through chemo cope with their new found identities and embrace them entirely.
