Bald Barbie: Coming To A Children’s Hospital Near You

bald-barbie2The moms have spoken and Mattel makers of Barbie has listened. The company has confirmed that it will debut a bald Barbie in 2013 after a group of powerful parents lobbied to have it made via Change.org and Facebook. That’s because children affected by hair loss those with cancer, for instance will see a bit of themselves in these popular dolls that, like or not, have a huge impact on little girls. They’ll show that bald is indeed beautiful an important message to be sending children, that’s for sure. (The dolls are also intended to help young girls who are having trouble coping with their mother’s hair loss from chemo.)

In typical Barbie fashion, the doll will come with a slew of accessories including wigs, hats and scarves. Mattel wrote on its Facebook page:

Play is vital for children, especially during difficult times…. For those girls who choose, the wigs and head coverings can be interchanged or completely removed. We will work with our longstanding partner, the Children’s Hospital Association, to donate and distribute the dolls exclusively to children’s hospitals directly reaching girls who are most affected by hair loss. A limited number of dolls and monetary donations will also be made to CureSearch for Children’s Cancer and the National Alpecia Areata Foundation.

The only drawback is that bald Barbie won’t be found on store shelves. Many people have pointed out the importance of making them accessible to all so that even those children who don’t have a disease will learn about children who do. It’s a good point, though the fact that bald Barbie will be produced in the first place is an incredible first step. If it will help improve the confidence of just one little girl, then already it’s a worthwhile move. So kudos to Mattel for going forward with it, and kudos to all the parents who proved that there’s power in numbers.

Most Mommyish readers will be pleased with the news. Back in January, we polled our readers to see if they felt Mattel should make a bald Barbie. Around 58% said absolutely, so long as a portion of the funds go to pediatric cancer research (27% said yes regardless of where the money goes). So this is definitely something worth celebrating!

(Photo: blog.sfgate.com)

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