To celebrate International Women's Day, Mattel announced a new line of Barbies based on women who are doing awesome things around the world.
Photo: Mattel
Barbie and Mattel have just announced more than a dozen new dolls honouring real-life women from around the globe, and we are SO. EXCITED.
Fourteen of the dolls will be added to the Barbie Sheroes line, which honours women with one-of-a-kind dolls in their image. The women who were chosen to become dolls, come from all backgrounds and areas of excellence such as sports, food, film and physics. Can you guess who these 12 dolls are?
From left to right, the dolls represent Vicky Martin Berrocal, a designer and entrepreneur from Spain; Xiaotong Guan, an actress and philanthropist from China; Bindi Irwin, Steve Irwin's daughter who does work as a conservationist in Australia; Sara Gama, an Italian soccer player; Chloe Kim, 2018 Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding from the US; Martyna Wojciecowska, a Polish journalist; Nicola Adams OBE, a boxing champion from the UK; Yuan Yuan Tan, a prima Ballerina from China; American filmmaker, Patty Jenkins; World renowned French chef, Hélène Darroze; Hui Ruoqi a champion volleyball player from China; and Leyla Piedayesh, a German designer and entrepreneur. Not pictured, but also being added to the Sheroes line are Çağla Kubat, a champion windsurfer from Turkey and Lorena Ochoa a professional golfer from Mexico.
While these 14 dolls are one-of-a-kind, Mattel also released their new Inspiring Women series which include dolls in the same theme, but will be available for purchase online. The first three dolls in this series are Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot to cross the Atlantic; Frida Kahlo, the celebrated artist and activist from Mexico; and Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician who was helped calculate the trajectory of the first American-manned flight into space.
This announcement comes ahead of International Women's Day on March 8 as part of Mattel's campaign to inspire young girls with real-life role models. "Because imagining she can be anything is just the beginning," Mattel says in a promo released on Twitter. Watch the full video below:
In honor of #InternationalWomensDay, we are committed to shining a light on empowering female role models past and present in an effort to inspire more girls.
Join the conversation by sharing your role models using #MoreRoleModels. pic.twitter.com/5oJnZywk7s — Barbie (@Barbie) March 6, 2018
We love that Mattel is honouring these amazing women and that they chose ladies from all over the world. They've been killin' the representation game lately with their Fashionistas line that includes Barbie and Ken dolls of all shapes, styles and colours. And the diversity among this group of women is a great example of proper inclusivity. You go, Mattel. And Happy International Women's Day to all the little girls who dream of growing up to be inspiring women in their own right!
Read more: 23 empowering books with strong female characters Mattel creates first-ever hijab-wearing Barbie doll This adorable commercial about #DadsWhoPlayBarbie is giving us all the feels
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Kevin is an associate editor for Canadian Business in Toronto, Ontario. More of their work can be found in MSN Canada, Chatelaine and This Magazine.