Bald Barbie and Why Representation Matters in Play

The Barbie movie is an absolute record-breaking phenomenon.

My family are part of the fan club. (Few spoilers!)

One of the reasons that the Barbie movie resonates is because of Barbie’s ability to represent so much of who we are and who we could be.

The movie opens with a bit of the history of Barbie. While nearly every doll before her was a baby doll that a little girl could practice mothering skills on, Barbie came along as an adult for children to engage in imaginary role-play behavior and explore other social interactions. As new outfits, models, and accessories emerged, Barbie represented not only a woman with an enviable wardrobe but also a young woman with any number of careers and leadership opportunities.

While her physical attributes have been controversial over the years, the very self-aware 2023 movie points out that Stereotypical Barbie is just one of many Barbies. BarbieWorld is full of women of color and those who represent a wide array of visible differences, such as varied body shapes and those who are differently abled. Each woman is viewed and treated as beautiful and valuable.

Bald Barbie

While I didn’t notice a Bald Barbie in the cast of the movie, I know she exists in that fantasy BarbieWorld and is treated as a valued and equal member of a society that sees differences but doesn’t use those differences to limit potential.

I know Bald Barbie exists because we have one at home. She was a gift from the National Alopecia Areata Foundation shortly after my then-four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with alopecia universalis. Over the past four years she’s had an adventurous life in our house, including a guest appearance on television when Greg McQuade visited to interview my daughter Gwen as a Heroes Among Us. Our Bald Barbie has been on multiple vacations, befriended mermaids, swapped wardrobes with dozens of other Barbies, and has repeatedly married the Darth Vader doll (which is a huge honor granted by our Vader-obsessed daughter).

Bald Barbie also showed up at school. Not our doll from home, but two brand new Bald Barbies were donated to my daughter’s kindergarten classroom after a high school student reached out to Mattel. The beautiful story was in our local paper. The Bald Barbies quickly became classroom favorites and the kids would fight over who got to play with them.

(Bald Barbie was introduced to us and our local community a year or two before they hit the mass market in 2020, and now anyone can have one.)

Playing with Bald Barbie

Play is incredibly important to brain development (particularly in childhood but really throughout life). All different sorts of play, from physical (dancing, ball games, etc.) to constructive (crafting, music, etc.) to rule-based (board games, etc.) add to our understanding and enjoyment of the world.

Barbie is a tool for play (a.k.a. toy) that aids the imagination for people to act out scenarios and practice social interactions. Barbie provides an amazing prop -or set of props- for intricate fantasy play, which is excellent for developing communication and social skills whether playing alone or with others. There’s even neuroscience research on Barbie specifically!

Playing with dolls, like Barbie, can help children to develop empathy. Children can practice kindness and caring interactions and can experiment with the resulting reactions of others. Through doll play, children can practice how they might react to unexpected or new situations. Further, they can try new ways of behaving in familiar situations to experiment with change. Whether playing with others or alone, dolls help children use clear words and actions to express feelings.

Why Representation Matters- Caring about Others

Whether my daughter noticed it or not, her kindergarten classmates who played with the Bald Barbies were practicing how they might feel or act if they were the one without hair, and in turn developing empathy for the people in their lives with visible differences. Even while the kids were enamored of the novel accessories like head scarves that were available for Bald Barbie, they were experimenting with the pros and cons of being different.

Representation matters because children can learn empathy and inclusiveness by playing with dolls that look different from them… like my daughter’s classmates learning empathy for their bald classmate by playing with Bald Barbies.

Both of my daughters have had dolls with a variety of skin tones, hair colors/textures, and facial features. Different dolls have been favorites on different days, often guided by the appearances of favored tv and movie stars. When children are given the opportunity to play with dolls that look different from themselves they can develop empathy and compassion for humans who look different from themselves.

Why Representation Matters- Learning about Self

Our identity comes from many places. Our sense of self is formed as much by how others react to us by how we feel in response to them. From early ages we compare ourselves to those we admire, looking for features that are similar between us and those people. We pay attention to the compliments and criticism of others and how we are judged for our behavior.

Representation matters because children can learn to see their own beauty and value when they see how others react to them. When that doll arrived from the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, my daughter lit up with joy when she saw a Barbie that looked like her. Girls -and people- everywhere light up when they see dolls that are crafted to look similar to them. There may be stereotypical beauty standards firmly in place in any society, but there are many different aesthetics that can be equally valued. Being able to play with a doll that has a distinctive feature similar to herself, my daughter can create imaginary play scenarios and truly see herself in them. Someone valued that feature enough to make a doll like that. She can value herself more because of that.

Weird Barbie

Most people secretly worry about looking or acting so strangely that we are cast out from normal society. When a child, or any person, has a distinctive difference, they may worry even more than the average individual. Weird Barbie is visibly distinctive because of how hard she was played with. Weird Barbie is harshly judged by others. She is outcast and shunned for being too different. And yet…

Weird Barbie is secretly respected and appreciated for her alternative life journey. When strange things begin to happen, it is she that the Barbies turn to, and she openly embraces her role as a wise sage.

Here the movie offers subtle lessons on representation. First, many of the Barbies (and Kens) are included and not outcast despite a variety of visible differences. Second, someone who is unusual may have new ways of solving problems and can become a powerful ally.

Anyone Can Be Barbie

It isn’t that we are all striving to become some stereotypical image of Barbie. Instead, both the movie and the toy have a clear marketing concept that embraces representation of all sorts- from representing women as strong leaders and capable skilled workers to portraying Barbie as someone with any assortment of visible differences. The point is that Barbie is everything. She can have any career, play any role. Not every person will become everything, but each person has the potential to become who she wants to be.

And it is through play that she can discover who she wants to become.