Black Barbie Doll Hairstyle Sparks Social Media Discussion

Over the years, Barbie has gone to outer space, become a doctor, taught yoga, and even became a UNICEF ambassador. However, despite Barbie's numerous accolades, the doll is not without its controversies. Now people are taking parent company Mattel to task over a controversial cornrow hairstyle featured on one of its black Barbie dolls.

On Saturday, the Barbie Style Instagram shared a picture to promote a new documentary, Yahoo! Lifestyle reports. "Movie night with my girls to watch the @Hulu premiere of the new @Barbie documentary, Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie! Check it out now at the link in my bio! 💖 #barbie #barbiestyle," reads the caption accompanying a photo of three Barbies. Two of the dolls are blonde and sitting on a couch in front of a computer; a black Barbie sits on the right-hand side. It looks like a fairly average photo of the dolls, except for one thing that has inspired backlash in the comments section: Black Barbie's hair, half of which was braided into dark-brown cornrows, while the other half was left in a voluminous blonde bouffant of cascading curls.

The hairstyle has left commenters divided, with some users on Twitter praising the style and commending Mattel for including a more diverse cast of dolls. Others were less than impressed with the execution, saying that the braided do looked like the hairstylist simply gave up halfway through. One commenter even posed the question as to why the brand had seemingly tried to put every black hairstyle they could think of on one doll's head.

Barbie has been the subject of controversy for decades (case in point: her tall, thin body proportions are far from what the average American woman looks like), and in the last few years Mattel has been making some effort in making the doll more inclusive; in 2016, the brand released a more diverse cast of dolls in a range of skin tones and sizes to try to bring the iconic figure into the 21st century. However, earlier this year, the brand's Frida Kahlo doll went viral for all the wrong reasons, owing largely to the fact that people believed it was missing some of the artist's very recognizable signature characteristics.

Update:

In response to Teen Vogue's request for comment, Mattel provided the following statement:

The @barbiestyle channel depicts the daily activities of Barbie and showcases dolls with a variety of diverse looks, including skin tones, hairstyles and fashions. For almost 60 years, Barbie has been canvas for cultural conversation. We are proud to offer the most diverse fashion doll line in the marketplace where consumers can find a doll that resonates with them. To see the full line, please visit www.Barbie.com.

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