Barbie, the doll that has long symbolized an impractical and unattainable standard of beauty for young girls, was invented by one of America's foremost businesswomen of her day.
This came as a surprise for the director of a new Hulu documentary, "Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie," that was to have its debut at the TriBeCa film festival this week.
The documentary, directed by Andrea Nevins, goes behind the scenes of Mattel as Barbie undergoes a major transformation to better reflect diverse characteristics and more reasonable notions of beauty.
"Multiculturalism as well as many different shapes, I think is part of the next step that we as women are allowed, in part because we have more power than we've ever had before and I think we can start to control the narrative and start to control female gaze as well as male gaze," said Nevins in an interview Tuesday with Cheddar.
She said that executives at Mattel, the toy company that's manufactured Barbie since 1959, decided now was the time to make a change because public awareness ー and backlash ー had gone mainstream.
"I think there was a lot of noise in culture and I think that they have had an antenna up since 1959 about what the noise in culture is and they heard loud and clear that women were no longer accepting that one form," she said.
For full article, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/in-a-barbie-world).
The Chinese government brought the sitcom "Friends" back to its streaming services. However, it had instances of LGBTQ+ references left out, after the series had been banned on Chinese streaming platforms for years.
Season 13 "Shark Tank" contestant Tania Speaks secured a $400,000 deal for her Speaks Organic Skincare brand with "Shark" Mark Cuban while also being named one of the best pitches in the history of the show — all at 19 years old. Now 20, Speaks joined Cheddar News to talk about the skincare line, the clean beauty industry, and the moment that host Cuban was moved by her pitch. "I couldn't believe that he got emotional. I'm surprised I held back my tears that long," the young entrepreneur revealed. "It's just amazing for someone else to be inspired by your story, especially Mark Cuban himself."
The media giant formerly known as ViacomCBS has officially rebranded itself as Paramount Global with a focus on its streaming service, Paramount Plus. Naveen Chopra, chief financial officer at Paramount, joined Cheddar to discuss the company’s name change and streaming wars. "There are components of content licensing that we continue to do, either historical arrangements or opportunities to license content that don't really impinge on what we're trying to do with our owned and operated services and that continues to be an important ingredient in our broader financial model," he said. "But our number one priority is putting our best assets on Paramount Plus." Chopra also discussed theatrical release windows before feature films hit its service and the platform's subscription goals.
In efforts to help support black-owned brands. Ulta Beauty says it will make a commitment to not only give these brand shelf space but also help them navigate the ins and outs of growing a business. Last week, the beauty retailer announced in order to reach those goals, the company will spend $50 million on diversity and inclusion programs, including an accelerated program to mentor entrepreneurs of color. CEO of Ulta Beauty, Dave Kimbell, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
While Black History Month is a time to celebrate the achievements of Black Americans, it's also a time to reflect on how they can be better heard and supported.
Black Americans are still fighting for voting rights, facing more severe impacts from COVID-19, and experiencing gaps in workforce representation and pay. Alexandra Schrecengost, hybrid work expert and CEO of "Virtual With Us" and "Culture With Us,' joined Cheddar News to discuss.
