Bald is beautiful! Mattel has announced that they will development a Barbie doll without hair especially for girls dealing with hair loss, whether from chemotherapy or another cause, in themselves or a family member. The dolls should come out in 2013.
The dolls will not go on the market, but will be donated to children's hospitals and other charity outlets in the US and other countries. Link -via Breakfast Links
Although “Mattel has a policy of not forwarding unsolicited product ideas to our design teams,” it seems like New Jersey resident Jane Bingham with her friend Rebecca Sypin, who launched a Beautiful and Bald Barbie Facebook page last December, sparked the idea. The social media move went viral. Bingham and Sypin reportedly met in a pregnancy chat room. Both Bingham and Sypin’s daughter lost their hair to chemotherapy. So they hoped the doll could be used to help children cope and understand what other family members are facing, like Bingham’s 9-year daughter learning to understand her mother's condition. And for children battling cancer like Sypin’s 12-year old daughter, it’s a reminder that hair isn’t what makes them special.
Reportedly, it’ not Barbie, but it's a female friend who will be hairless. The friend will have wigs, hats, scarves and other accessories children can put on the doll. (And what’s a Barbie Doll without accessories?)
The dolls will not go on the market, but will be donated to children's hospitals and other charity outlets in the US and other countries. Link -via Breakfast Links
These dolls can help raise awareness and help remove the stigma that comes with losing your hair from sickness as a child or not growing hair due to alopecia or whatever the case may be.