The New Frida Kahlo Barbie Features a Disappointing Lack of Unibrow and Facial Hair
Though Barbie has been around since 1959, she's seen multiple changes in her lifetime and has had as many makeovers and reinventions as, well, the average person. In fact, there are so many iterations of Barbie that it can hard to keep up. This makes sense, though, considering so much has happened during her lifetime and she's meant to represent so many things to her young customers. That's why, according to HuffPost, Mattel has decided to make a brand-new collection called "Inspiring Women." The set will include Barbies in the likenesses of accomplished women throughout history, like Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo, and Katherine Johnson.
HuffPost says the line will be sold alongside the company's "Shero" line in advance of International Women's Day on March 8, which includes 14 inspiring women who are currently making waves in their industries. Lisa McKnight, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Barbie, said in a press release, "As a brand that inspires the limitless potential in girls, Barbie will be honoring its largest line up of role models timed to International Women’s Day, because we know that you can’t be what you can’t see."
Barbie Inspiring Women Colletion
Courtesy of MattelThough her contributions to art and culture were what truly made Kahlo such a significant historical figure, her striking and beautiful refusal to give in to certain sexist societal pressures were also noteworthy — and most depictions of the artist prominently feature a unibrow and upper lip hair to honor that. However, a closer look at Frida Kahlo's doll reveals something a little troubling. Kahlo's doll doppelgänger, however, seems to have just a few hairs above her nose at the brow line, making her look more or less like so many other Barbies.
This is especially disappointing during a time when many folks are learning to embrace their unibrows and other body hair frequently deemed unacceptable on female- or femme-identifying people. Even in 2018, having dark body hair that you don't remove is still seen as subversive in most parts of the U.S.
So, while it's great that a famous, decades-old brand has decided to honor so many fantastic women in history, it would have made a quiet but powerful statement had Mattel maintained Frida Kahlo's upper lip hair and full, bushy, beautiful unibrow.
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