The Mattel company says it has created a new doll in cooperation with experts.
The American toy company Mattel has announced for the first time a Barbie doll with Down syndrome.
Mattel says (you will switch to another service) having created the doll in collaboration with an association that represents people with Down syndrome.
According to the toy company, the goal is to also offer children with developmental disabilities the opportunity to play with a doll that looks like themselves.
The company says it also aims for all children to learn to play with dolls that don’t look like themselves.
The doll’s clothes and accessories have symbolic references to Down syndrome. This is, for example, the butterfly pattern on the dress.
The first Barbie doll went on sale in 1959. The doll raised criticism for a long time with its one-sided female image and unnatural body proportions.
In recent years, the toy company Mattel has tried to diversify its doll selection, for example by offering different skin colors, body sizes and body shapes.
Dolls that are missing parts of their limbs or have alopecia or vitiligo, which causes baldness, have also been put on sale.
Sources: Reuters, AFP