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).

Share:
More In Culture
Former 'Bachelorette' Ali Manno on Partnering With Pebbles to Support Kid Creativity
Season 6 "Bachelorette" Ali Manno joined Cheddar's Baker Machado to discuss "The Bachelor" franchise, promoting children’s creativity, and motherhood. Manno also touched on her partnership with the cereal brand Pebbles to use their imagination by getting them to submit artwork, which then ended up on display across the country. "What I love about this so much is it not only encourages kids to be creative but it shows when you are creative and you use your imagination, you could be in a mural in a major city," she said.
Visiting Alaska; Protecting America's Last Great Wilderness
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals Richenda Sandlin-Tymitz, Marketing & Content Manager at Alaska Tour & Travel, breaks down when and how to plan your best trip to Alaska; Kristen Miller, Acting Executive Director, Alaska Wilderness League, discusses the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the oil drilling that threatens it; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Magic of the Wild.'
Planning Your Trip to Alaska
Richenda Sandlin-Tymitz, Marketing & Content Manager at Alaska Tour & Travel, joins Cheddar Reveals to break down when and how to plan your best trip to Alaska.
New Study Shows Chatbots Help Prevent Eating Disorders
Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, joins Cheddar News to discuss how chatbots can help prevent eating disorders and the research that uncovered these findings.
Winter Fire Safety Tips to Protect Families
Daniel Madrzykowski, research director at the UL Fire Safety Research Institute, joins Cheddar News to discuss the deadly Bronx fire that killed 19 people and fire safety tips that people need to know about.
Load More