Bald Barbie Campaign Grows
Over the years, Barbie has gone through many changes and careers. Today, though, there is a movement to make Barbie “bald and beautiful.”
The movement, started by Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin, is meant to get the attention of Barbie creator, Mattel. The goal of the movement is production of a bald Barbie doll “for young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, Alopecia or Trichotillomania. Also, for young girls who are having trouble coping with their mother’s hair loss from chemo.”
The Christian Post spoke with Jane Bingham, who explained that the movement is personal for her and co-creator Sypin. Bingham was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and lost her hair during treatments; her 9-year-old daughter had difficulty accepting her hair loss. Bingham read an article about Mattel’s creation of the Princess Genesis doll for a young girl who had lost her hair; it got her thinking about how other girls could benefit from similar dolls.
To date, the “Beautiful and Bald Barbie” Facebook page has received over 34,000 “likes” since its creation on Dec. 20, 2011. So far, though, Mattel has not responded to requests made by Bingham and others. She told The Christian Post that they have only receive generic letters stating that all suggestions must be made through doll designers, though no help is given on how to contact doll designers.
Bingham also stated that she has faith that Mattel will respond, since they have a heart for children; followers and media have been “99 percent completely supportive” of the movement.
Mattel’s Barbie line began in 1959 and is still being produced. For more information about the Bald and Beautiful Barbie movement, go to Facebook and enter “Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let’s See if We Can Get It Made.”
