Mattel appears to be taking a shot at Barbie as the doll is about to reach her 60th birthday. The toy giant is now marketing a gender-neutral line of dolls called Creatable World. That’s right, Mattel is betting that children want gender bending dolls over the buxom blonde that many of us grew up with.
Gender Bending Dolls
Mattel stated they “don’t want their toys dictated by gender norms.” The Creatable World line allows children to customize the dolls with either long or short hair. Since the dolls are gender neutral, there’s no limit of clothing options by male or female shapes. The dolls do not have large breasts like Barbie or broad shoulders like Ken.
Rather than just getting another doll with a different look, hairstyle, or gender, Mattel is allowing them to just change the doll’s identity whenever they want. Apparently, the toy giant believes children who want to change their gender are cheered by the politically correct crowd. And that parents will purchase dolls that cater to gender bending. The doll can be male, female, neither, or both. (RELATED: Conservative News Site LifeSiteNews Banned from Apple News, Claiming Content “Shows Intolerance Towards a Specific Group”)
2/ The doll can be a boy, a girl, neither or both, and Mattel is hoping its launch redefines who gets to play with a toy traditionally deemed taboo for half the world’s kids pic.twitter.com/4SNJXNje6A
— TIME (@TIME) September 25, 2019
The dolls come in six skin tones and will retail for $29.99. Mattel is using children in the Creatable World videos and commercials who identify as “him, her, them, xem.” The line’s slogan also nods to “inclusivity” and gender bending: “A doll line designed to keep labels out and invite everyone in.”
“Toys are a reflection of culture and as the world continues to celebrate the positive impact of inclusivity, we felt it was time to create a doll line free of labels,” Kim Culmone, senior vice president with Mattel said “Through research, we heard that kids don’t want their toys dictated by gender norms.”
Selling Dolls To Boys
The toymaker appears to be hoping to open up this Pandora’s box on gender identity will broaden their reach and help break down barriers by selling dolls to boys. This also is viewed as a push to normalize switching genders. (RELATED: Netflix’s Rocko’s Modern Life Special Will Reintroduce Character As Trans)
“This line allows all kids to express themselves freely which is why it resonates so strongly with them,” Culmone continued in a company statement. “We’re hopeful Creatable World will encourage people to think more broadly about how all kids can benefit from doll play.”
Take a look at Creatable World’s promotional video below.