Staff Writer: Erin Flood, ’19
As a young girl, I had plenty of Barbie dolls. They lived in a big, white house, and drove around in a purple Barbie convertible. They would also fight over who would date my one male doll, ”Beach Boy Ken.”
Guess how many of those Barbie dolls were “Black”? Two. Though they were “Black” dolls, they didn’t have Black features. My dolls didn’t have waves, curls, or frizz that I have. As a young girl, there weren’t dolls I could play with that looked like me. Thanks to Zendaya, young, Black girls today can have a Barbie doll that looks like them.
On September 26, 2015, Zendaya introduced her Barbie Doll on her Instagram account. The Barbie doll recreates her infamous outfit at the 2014 Oscar Awards. At the award show, Zendaya appeared in a Vivienne Westwood gown. The controversy of her look stemmed from her choice of wearing dreadlocks to the award show. Giuliana Rancic, a Fashion Police commentator, commented that Zendaya looked as if she smelled of “Patchouli oil” or “Maybe weed”.
Her offensive comments went viral and she received a media storm of critiques, especially from women of color. After Zendaya heard the comment, she publicly confronted Rancic via Instagram, for her offensive statement.
Zendaya posted, “There is already harsh criticism of African American hair in society without the help of ignorant people who choose to judge others based on the curl of their hair. My wearing my hair in locs on an Oscar red carpet was to showcase them in a positive light, to remind people of color that our hair is good enough.”
Rancic did apologize for her comment, but the impact of it cannot be forgotten.
Mattel realized the impact of this situation and decided to choose this iconic look for Zendaya’s Barbie doll. Zendaya told Entertainment Tonight that she did not choose her Oscar look for the doll. Instead, the employees of Mattel noticed the importance of this moment for her and other women of color. This, in turn, influenced their decision.
Mattel’s choice to create a Zendaya Barbie doll that reproduces this momentous occasion is important because it shows the progressiveness in this world-renowned company. The company has defined “beauty” through their creation of dolls since the 1950’s. The creation of this Barbie doll with dreadlocks expands their definition of beauty and proves their appreciation for all forms of beauty.
