For International Women’s Day, toy company Mattel and Barbie announced a new line of their iconic dolls inspired by powerful and influential women throughout the decades. One of them is feminist and artist, Frida Kahlo but her great-niece Mara de Anda Romeo is claiming the company don’t have the proper rights to use Kahlo’s image.
Though legal action has been made, the company reportedly claim they were given the rights from Kahlo’s niece, Isolda Pinedo Kahlo about a decade before. It’s all very problematic and it’s only been twenty-four hours since its launch. Only time will tell how this will go but if anything, De Anda Romeo request that Mattel redesign the doll as to properly show Kahlo’s iconic and almost-monobrow look and to more accurately represent the style of dress and culture of Kahlo’s time. ‘Cos TBH, the Kahlo doll looks very Barbie-ish and well pretty in that iconic Barbie way and if it wasn’t for the hairstyle and distinct colours, people would be like ‘who dis?’
The Kahlo Barbie is one of seventeen immortalised by the toy company, however fourteen are only one-of-a-kind creations AKA not for sale. Still, the gesture is very much appreciated as such a diverse range of dolls is great for Barbie’s very diverse audience. Dolls include Amelia Earhart, Chloe Kim who stole hearts at this year’s Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and boxing champion Nicola Adams OBE.
Even our own Bindi Irwin copped her own one-of-a-kind Barbie complete with a little koala hanging off her arm that children will definitely lose.
I am truly honoured to be part of the @Barbie family, celebrating International Women’s Day. This day encourages us all to reflect on the impact women have had on shaping the world we live in today. This is such a special recognition of women and girls who are making a difference pic.twitter.com/x3dvEHAmWn
— Bindi Irwin (@BindiIrwin) March 8, 2018
You can check out Barbie’s promo vid for the new line of dolls below.
In honor of #InternationalWomensDay, we are committed to shining a light on empowering female role models past and present in an effort to inspire more girls.
Join the conversation by sharing your role models using #MoreRoleModels. pic.twitter.com/5oJnZywk7s
— Barbie (@Barbie) March 6, 2018
Barbie-fied Amelia Earhart, Katherine Johnson, and Frida Kahlo will be available May 10 but you can pre-order the dolls now via their Barbie Collector website.
