On Monday, Mattel rolled out a Barbie doll modeled on ballerina Misty Copeland, who broke the color barrier at American Ballet Theatre in 2015 when she was promoted to principal dancer, a first for an African-American woman.
So why doesn’t the Barbie look like her?
It resembles Copeland in some ways: It’s clearly a ballerina, with nicely arched feet in pink toe shoes, hair pulled back, stage makeup, and a dance costume that’s closely identified with Copeland, copied from the flame-red unitard she wears in the ballet “Firebird.”
The doll’s legs are long and thin, but her calves are Copelandesque: pronounced and muscular.
Still, if it wasn’t labeled a Misty Copeland doll, and wasn’t wearing her costume, I wouldn’t recognize it as “in her likeness,” as the Barbie press release states.
The doll is part of the Barbie Sheroes program, honoring “female heroes who inspire girls by breaking boundaries and expanding possibilities for women everywhere.”
But this doll just doesn’t look like Copeland, with neither her looks nor the rich color of her skin.
Commenters on the celebrity and fashion blog Jezebel.com also wondered about the doll’s appearance:
“That doll looks mighty, mighty white.”
“Would have liked actual skin color of Misty Copeland and not the light beige tan the Barbie has going on.”
A Mattel spokeswoman said the skin color seems faded because of the lighting. And it does look a little browner in a picture of Copeland and her doll that Mattel provided.
But it seems a missed opportunity. The pictures of the doll on the Barbie Collection website look so light-skinned you’d never guess the model is an African-American trailblazer.
And many admirers will have only those photos to go by. Seeing the actual doll may be difficult. It sold out within minutes of Monday’s rollout for preorder. The doll goes on sale next week on the Barbie website and through retailers nationwide, but it’s a limited edition, and many hopefuls may end up disappointed.
