The New Barbie, She's Just like Us!

by Ramona Emerson

With child's size 3 feet and a waist so tiny she couldn't digest anything more significant than a crouton, a real-life Barbie would not be alive for long. This is why artist Nickolay Lamm created Lammily, a realistically proportioned alternative to the blonde nymph we all played with as children.

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"Rather than just criticizing Barbie, I wanted to make an alternative," says Lamm. "A lot of people have said, 'It's just a doll. Who cares?' but my opinion is that if there is even a chance of it negatively influencing young girls then why not make another option?"

Lamm wanted the doll to look realistic and designed her body using CDC data on average measurements of American women--the CDC has stats on everything from height and weight to forearm length. But, "it's a stylized average," admits the 25-year-old Pittsburgh artist. "I wanted her to look like the girl next door, sweet and wholesome." This kind of sounds like replacing one female stereotype with another but, well, baby steps, people.

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Lamm is currently holding a 30-day crowd-funding campaign to begin production on Lammily, which really might need to get a new name if it's going to catch on. But maybe I'm wrong--just 24 hours in, he's already surpassed his goal of $95,000, which shows that people may actually be ready for a regular-size doll. Visit lammily.com to donate.

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