For many years, Barbie has been breaking boundaries and sparking imaginations for little girls. Mattel, the company that makes Barbie dolls, has unveiled a 2020 elections campaign set of four dolls to encourage and inspire girls to take on leadership roles and positions.
The collection comes as US citizens will head to the polls in November to elect their president. The four dolls in the “career set” are campaign manager, fundraiser, voter, and the black doll is the presidential candidate.
“With less than a third of elected leaders in the US are women, and black women being even less represented in these positions, we designed the Barbie Campaign Team with a diverse set of dolls to show girls they can raise their voices. Our goal is to remove barriers to leadership by giving girls the tools to imagine and play out their future roles,” said Mattel.
The brand collaborated with She Should Run, a non-partisan and non-profit organisation which offers assistance to women who aspire to run for office. According to She Should Run, “role-play helps ignite leadership ambition among children. While we know there are barriers to getting girls leadership roles, 66% of adults surveyed by She Should Run observed an increased perception in leadership potential in children who role-play.”
Additionally, children can also access play ballots and prompts for girls to write their campaign speeches on its website.
