Finally, Someone Creates A Barbie Doll That Won’t Make Your Daughter Feel Bad About Herself

Oh Barbie. People do love to hate you. Don’t take it personally, it’s just that your crazy waist size, perky boobs and endless ability to stand in heels makes some of us scratch our heads and roll our eyes. You basically made my whole childhood great so I don’t want to offend you by saying you’re not the best role model for my daughter. But it’s time for us to both admit that there must be a better way.

We need some dolls that are more representative of what our children actually look like. Artist and researcher Nickolay Lamm is actually doing something about it with a project that aims to make Barbie look a little more like what the average girl actually looks like. He’s designed a new doll; her name is Lammily.

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I know what you’re thinking – this is just Skipper. And no one wanted to play with Skipper. I would argue that the reason no one wanted to play with Skipper is because she was a kid and Barbie was an adult. If we were going to play make-believe, we wanted to shoot for the moon.

But Lammily doesn’t appear to be a kid. And there’s also no skinnier, taller big-headed Barbie in her group making all the other dolls feel inferior. These dolls are dressed in sporty little outfits with sneakers. Their bodies are made to run and jump and be active:

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Lamm started his crowdfunding project today and he’s already earned almost $10,000 of the $95,000 he’s trying to get in the next 30 days. He says of the project:

A highly detailed and very accurate 3D digital prototype of Lammily has been created. The manufacturer will use this model to make the physical doll.

I’ve been consulting with Robert Rambeau, former Vice President of Manufacturing at Mattel, who has offered his experience and expertise in selecting a highly qualified manufacturer.

I need your help to cover the costs of tooling and molding, and to meet the manufacturer’s minimum order quantity.

I’m guessing the contributions are rolling in due to his incredible portfolio. This guy is seriously talented. Do you remember the whole “This Is What An Average Man Looks Like” story that went viral a few months ago? Lamm’s designs were behind it.

I love this doll and I love this idea. I hope he gets the funding needed to make it a reality. Than it’s just up to those of us who do the buying in our families to give these dolls a try. I’ll still buy Barbie, because I love her. I think it’s up to us as parents to give our kids healthy body images, I would never task a doll with that roll. But I think we should all expand the variety in our kid’s toy chest.

I love you, Barbie. But it’s time for more choices.

(Photos: Nickolay Lamm)

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