Which New Barbie is Causing Major Controversy?
By Rachael Allen, REDBOOK.
Last August, Mattel, Barbie's manufacturer, and Girl Scouts of the USA announced a partnership--and there was plenty of backlash from consumer groups that believe the doll and the Girl Scouts are not a good match.
Still, Mattel and Girl Scouts moved ahead and produced a Barbie Girl Scouts doll, which hits stores this week. And some still aren't all too thrilled.
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In March, Susan Linn, the director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood spoke out against the partnership. "Holding Barbie, the quintessential fashion doll, up as a role model for Girl Scouts simultaneously sexualizes young girls, idealizes an impossible body type, and undermines the Girl Scouts' vital mission to build 'girls of courage, confidence and character.'"
Mattel and the Girl Scouts disagree.
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"Girls and moms alike associate this doll with the outdoors, camping, giving back in your community, and we think those are really positive messages to be sending to all of our girls," Kelly Parisi, chief communications executive for Girl Scouts, told Today on Monday.
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The new Barbie comes with a Girl Scouts badge--the first ever to be created by a corporate sponsor. Mattel has also gotten flack for Entrepreneur Barbie, 2014's career of the year doll. Some say it sets impossible standards for young girls, suggesting they need to maintain a perfectly svelte figure and be conventionally successful.
Is this Barbie one you'll be adding to your children's collection?
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