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Subscribe to RSSAdvocates are pushing for bald Barbie dolls to help children dealing with cancer. NBC's Erika Edwards reports.
Courtesy: Beckie Sypin
Beckie Sypin and her daughter Kin Inich
Her figure may not exist in nature, but Barbie's status as a role model for young girls is undeniable.
Now a movement is afoot on Facebook to create a "Bald Barbie" as a role model for young girls going through chemotherapy or suffering from hair loss conditions such as alopecia.
"We would like to see a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made to help young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, Alopecia or Trichotillomania," reads the introduction to the Facebook page, Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let's see if we can get it made.
The Facebook page, created by a group of women who either had children dealing with baldness or were dealing with it themselves due to chemotherapy, went up a few days before Christmas. As of Friday, it has more than 86,000 "likes."
"My daughter is battling leukemia right now and she's been going through chemotherapy for the last two years," says Beckie Sypin, a 32-year-old special-education teacher's aid from Lancaster, Calif., and one of the mothers responsible for the Facebook campaign.
"She was bald for about seven months and we would go to the store and people would stare or kids would ask her why she's bald. It's not something they're used to seeing. We think [a bald Barbie] would be therapeutic and I think it would help baldness become more quote unquote normal. It would be seen. It wouldn't be this odd thing that people don't have hair."
As the lobbying for a bald Barbie gained momentum, Mattel issued a statement Thursday: "We are honored that Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin believe that Barbie could be the face of such an important cause. Mattel appreciates and respects the passion that has been built up for the request for a bald Barbie doll. As you might imagine, we receive hundreds of passionate requests for various dolls to be added to our collection. We take all of them seriously and are constantly exploring new and different dolls to be added to our line."
The statement noted that the toy company and the Mattel Children’s Foundation have donated close to $30 million and more than half a million toys to children's hospitals across the country.
Deanna Pledge, a psychologist working with children in Columbia, Mo., says a bald Barbie might indeed be helpful.
"I think having an image of a bald child or bald adult -- whether it's Barbie or not -- does promote a positive message in the mainstream," she says. "And Barbie is clearly in the mainstream."
Pledge says that even having a bald Barbie on the toy store shelves could create educational opportunities for parents and children.
"Parents might be forced to have discussions with their children as to why Barbie is bald, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing," she says. "There would be more people talking about it and discussing it instead of just looking at the children as different. They may feel that it's more normal and I think that could be helpful."
Sypin hopes Mattel -- or another toymaker -- will take note, though, since she feels there's a definite need for such a doll.
"I know with a lot of the girls that we've met through treatment, the cancer part isn't the part that scares them, it's the fact that they're bald," she says. "The girls cry over losing their hair."
Sypin's 12-year-old daughter, Kin Inich, wasn't one of them, however.
"She's been very good about the whole bald thing," says Sypin. "She rocks it. She has silly wigs and hats and headbands and scarves. During the summer, she was even writing on her head and putting on temporary tattoos. She didn't care that she lost her hair. But she did care that people stared at it."
Pledge, the psychologist, says she played with Barbie as a child and recalls that Mattel used to make a version of the doll with molded plastic hair and a series of fashion wigs.
"Perhaps this could be an option, too," she says. "She could wear different hats. She could wear wigs. Or she could go bald. I think that kind of role modeling -- just from her head -- would be positive. Although I think real life role models are the best options."
I have seen this posting on facebook and I can't say that I agree with having a bald Barbie. I have had alopecia now for over 34 years and at no time have I ever taken comfort from someone else being bald. Yes, there will always be people who stare or who will assume that I am sick, so what? We can't begin to make Barbies to cover all of the situations that exist in this world. Wouldn't it be a better idea to teach girls who are faced with baldness how to deal with it? Although I no longer distressed by the fact that I have no hair and that it will probably never return, I think that it is a better avenue to take to assure young girls that in most cases their hair is coming back. That is the hope, not some bald doll.There is nothing wrong with young girls wearing wigs if that is what they need to cope. Even though I had been essentially without hair for 34 years, I do not walk around bald. I do wear a head covering of some sort. If you gave a young lady a bald Barbie and that is not where her comfort level is, she may ask herself why isn't it? This is an incredibly personal thing and I don't think it is any place for toy makers. While I am on this rant, I would also like to say that in most cases, I disagree with people who cut off their hair to supposedly support someone. Do not make someone's terrible situation about you. Whoopee, you cut your hair off! Are you puking in a bucket? Has your husband had to rip apart ever drain in your house? Is your family tired of picking your hair out of their food?Are your kids crying themselves to sleep every night because Mom might die?Do something useful-fix a meal, take the kids for an overnight, clean the house. Don't cut your hair off, it's going to grow right back.
Wow, Bald Too. You seem really offended by the idea of a bald Barbie. I have alopecia, and I actually think this would be a REALLY good idea. I've had alopecia since I was 5 but recently had total hair loss.
The reason I think this would be a good idea is because I think the American public is not always good at celebrating differences. The idea of the bald Barbie could spur conversation with children and help them realize that not everyone is the same, and it is okay to be different.
I also think that cutting off your hair to support a love one does just that. It shows them that they are not in it alone. They have support. They have someone they can depend on and who cares enough for them to show them that in the end hair is not all that important. JMHO.
Here's why parent's shave their heads when their children lose their hair. I think this woman wrote this very honestly, and straight from her heart.
___________________________________________________________
My husband shaved his head about 3 weeks after diagnosis, as soon as Olivia's hair was done falling out. At that point, we were still hopeful that she would be on a chemotherapy only treatment regimen for her Leukemia. Once we learned that a bone marrow transplant was her only option for a cure, I decided to shave my head too. For several reasons. Firstly, since diagnosis, devoting time to things like my vanity - hair, makeup, and clothing - just felt awkward and pointless. I am in no way judging people that like to maintain their appearance throughout their child's treatment (it's probably healthier) but my internal dialogue is loud and it was making me feel pretty stupid. When I would stand in front of the mirror, with my blush brush and hair straightener, the same words would always roll through my mind - "your baby has cancer, who cares what you look like". Not me. Secondly, I was tired of the looks. I know it's only natural to want to stare at things that appear to be different, but it doesn't make it any less annoying. The people who stare fall into a few different categories. Those who quickly look and then pretend they don't see you, those who stare and double take and can't seem to look away, those who look with pity (perhaps the most annoying), and those who actually take the time to say hello and treat my child like a human being. I shaved my head to help detract stares from the majority kind of viewer. The kind of viewer who only saw an NG tube and a bald head. The kind who failed to see a person It worked to some degree. You don't see bald, pregnant women waddling around just every day of the week. Thirdly, I'd lost all control of everything in our lives but, I could still control my appearance. Shaving my head\ to honor my child's fight alleviated that sense of helplessness, even if only for as long as it took for my hair to fall to the floor. I did it for my daughter, who had no choice. To stand in solidarity with her. To help raise awareness. I have no regrets. I would do it again. I will do it again.
My wife, who has triple negative breast cancer, started chemo last week. She gets her hair cut off this week.
She loves the idea of a bald Barby.
When I was young I played with a Barbie. Styled her hair with pins and such. I suggest saving your money and just help the young cancer patient cut/shave the hair of the present Barbie. Why are we so quick to think that only Corporate American can make such a "magical" doll? We don't need their product or "permission."
"Changing Barbie's look" would give the child more power and control of her doll and her present cancer condition and treatment. Let her put cute hats and scarves on her "special" Barbie. Talk about all this with her.
Keep another Barbie for when the child's hair grows back.
Bald too
you're missing the point. The whole idea is not about misery loves company. People like to have their ego's stroke and egos are very fragile. If the image of a doll through which one see's beauty can bolster one's self esteem, why not a bald barbie.
In a world so filled with hate, prejudice, violence, and negativity, we should embrace something that promotes uplifting and positive well being.
Finally...someone with common sense. Thanks. Amazing how many well meaning morons there are out there.....
I think a bald Barbie is a grand idea but. . . .something has to be done about those boobs.
Give her a mastectomy, reduce their size, something. Let's get real and do our sisters, daughters, friends, nieces, heck, just women, a huge favor.
jkatze: Stop trying to kill Barbie.
If you don't like it, then stop buying it for your kids. Stop imposing your views of what a woman should be on the rest of us. The rest of us love Barbie for who she is and accept her just as she is.
Agreed, Baldtoo. Until they make starving-malaria-deathbed-AIDs Barbie, leave special classes out of it.
rkb5555 Post 1.5 I agree. When I was a child a wise man told me, " in order to build a perfect world we must show a little mercy and compassion."
If only Mattel manufactured their Barbies in the USA...........
Why not a bald doll, a legless doll, any type of "special needs" doll...........?
Then they could do the same with Barbies male counterpart, "Ken."
Why not shave the hair of a Barbie doll to see how ridiculous shaving a well person's hair is. What you end up with is a doll with a bunch of holes in its head where the hair was attached. Not very appealing. That's exactly what a person's head looks like when you shave it, an non-appealing pale scalp, not the artificially smooth dome you would get with a manufactured bald doll.
How is giving someone a fake bald doll going to make them feel better about themselves? Seems simpler to talk to a person who lost their hair that it isn't the end of the world just because you don't have natural hair sprouting out of their scalp. If they are so vain or embarrassed, have them wear a hat or wig made of fake hair. I just don't see how a bald doll is going to help anyone. Unless you are in the market for a doll, you will never go down an aisle of a store and see it, nor will it make people less likely from staring at a bald person.
Color me insensitive but what's the big deal? Ok, some women get cancer, have chemo, and lose hair. If a parent is worried about a kid's hair loss fine, don't push it on the kid. Kids adapt, telling them why the hair loss is good enough. Cancer is sometimes a taboo thing, people don't want to talk about it and women especially because it might make them appear less desirable. Anyway, kids and young women who have cancer have more to worry about than hair loss. Maybe hair loss in women is worrisome because if a woman is bald folks might think "Bull dyke." My wife was a RN and worked a lot with children, her impression was that if kids were just left alone they would do a better job coping. She had heart disease, had two-bypasses. Now and then someone would mention the scars on her chest and on her leg; "You poor thing, how are you doing now, etc." Her first thought was to tell the person to just flake off and don't bother me about it. Most likely a person who notices those things has had the same problem and just wants to associate. Lol, a young girl I knew had had chemo, and lost her hair. In public some people would ask her how she's doing, etc. I asked her once if she was about fed up with it. Man, lol, "Damn right and I wish people would just leave me alone about it."
Our hearts go out to all Children that are currently undergoing treatment and I support that Mattel should design a Barbie with No Hair.
I contacted Mattel and the response I received is listed below:
Thank you for contacting us at MattelShop.com.
We always appreciate hearing from you, especially when making us aware
of an item or service of interest to you.
At this time, we do not carry a Barbie with no hair. We sincerely
apologize for any disappointment or inconvenience this may cause. We
strongly suggest contacting Consumer Relations at 866-624-9128 and/or
visiting service.mattel.com for further information on this item. We
are constantly striving to provide the best product selection and
state-of-the-art services to our customers, and your suggestion gives us
an opportunity to do just that.
If you have additional questions about MattelShop.com, please feel free
to contact us at the number listed below.
Again, thank you for contacting MattelShop.com. We value your business
and look forward to assisting you in the future!
Sincerely,
The Customer Service Team
1-888-7Mattel (762-8835)
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
MattelShop.com | Delivering play, every day!
I'd like to see something like that come out to teach all children to accept others differences and to understand why. Maybe we can raise a generation of kids with compassion and love.
I agree. It is very hard being a child with hair loss, alopecia or chemo hair loss. Children have a hard time with differences, and they need to be taught to accept themselves and then teach others about it as well. I think the Barbie would help in that aspect, showing kids that not everyone is the same!
I wrote a blog post about this article: lululandadventures.blogspot.com
Yeah Gwen, it would be nice, but, children are little people, and people whether adult or children are naturally put off by "Difference." If we raised children with love and compassion? We, most parents, do. I raised four and have four grand kids, I told and tell them that just because another person doesn't look like you is no reason to dislike the person. But, don't feel guilty about it if you do, it's just natural. Hell, a lot of folks can get a lot out of a person if they can just make the person feel guilty about, whatever.
One of my daughter's best buddies from middle school has just lost all her hair due to alopecia at age 21. She has chosen to not cover up with hats or wigs, she looks so pretty and confident. There was a bald Barbie in the early 1960s, one of my friends had that one, she wore a turban and came with three wigs that stayed in place from a sticky headband. Mattel certainly could produce a doll without hair.
Since all the men in my direct line were bald by age 20, including my own son, how about a bald Barbie AND a bald Ken? Bald Ken would look better than the one with hair!
Cool Essie, right on. But, a bald Ken wouldn't go over at all, too many men are very vain about hair loss. Lol, I started losing hair when I was 14, was almost bald by the time I graduated high school. I'd crack up over guys with the "Comb over," holding it in place if they had to bend over. Well, anyway, if we want to make our kids feel good about themselves maybe we ought to petition for a obese Barbie and Ken.
Bald Barbie is a great idea. There have been TV series (sci-fi) featuring a bald female actress - one of the most beautiful characters was Zan on Farscape, just gorgeous. The Star Trek movies also had a bald female character..... There are many reasons for baldness in females - a little support for our young sisters shouldn't be too much to ask for.
Um, I am all for baldness and hairlessness in general, because I don't ever like having to take care of my hair (washing, combing, etc.) which ends up getting oily and dirty, particularly if it's getting long. I actually can't stand the feel of having long hair. You can accuse me of having OCD, but I think bald is just plain cleaner and easier to clean and maintain. Well, people who are artists or musicians often have thick and long scalp hair because they like to style it as a form of artistic self expression.
I wonder what would happen if everybody in the world became bald suddenly? Over time, I think everybody would quickly regard it as normal and stigma of baldness would disappear completely. I think it would actually be a good thing in a way... it would make everybody less materialistic and vain about their appearance. Yes.
#!/events/131699200281203/
Here is a novel idea and a challenge for anyone who is more interested in fighting childhood cancer than purchasing a doll. Cut out the corporate profits & the middleman!
Yeah, yeah. So, how did the local OWS demonstration go?
Anyone can purchase the doll and take the hair off themselves if they wanted to.
MomGrandma
It would not be the same. The holes that hold the hair would be ugly and the idea that there are enough of girls in the situation that a company would MAKE a doll like THEM is very uplifting.
That what my daughter did with many of her Barbies. And the heads come off fairly easily!
I first had alopecia areata at age 17. The first spot was at the crown of my head and I felt old and ugly. Though I have never suffered with complete baldness, just patches that grew back with treatment, my hair is now extremely thin. My daughters both had friends suffering from different disorders causing loss of hair, also. I think it is a great idea for Mattel to offer dolls that show disorders such as alopecia. I thought I was such a freak at 17, it would have been nice to know that there were others with the same problem.
Mattel has made a couple of Barbie dolls in the past in wheelchairs. My husband was a quadriplegic, and we both thought it was a great idea to reinforce the idea that people who are "different" for one reason or another were still valuable members of the community. I don't see any reason why creating a bald Barbie, perhaps as a set with various wigs and/or head-coverings, should be such a big deal- it might be very helpful (and encouraging) to many of the young girls who are dealing with these problems.
Right, Lezlie...that's because you don't have to do it and try to run a business like it was some kind of a social club....if you believe what you say...take the initiative: cash in your savings, set up a company, hire some folks, design a doll, arrange for manufacturing somewhere, navigate through the child-toy bureaucracy, set up a distribution system and make yourself a ton a money while providing all that feel-good experience for young girls....oh, you want to think about for awhile?...while complaining that somebody else hasn't done it?
Why don't you create your own line of dolls that girls around the world can relate to??
Approach American Girl about their dolls maybe they would. Their dolls portray a more real worl image for girls anyways. I despise Barbie.
Aside from the fact an American Girl doll runs about $100 while a Barbie is usually between $10 and $20, that's an excellent idea. Perhaps, whichever toymaker does run with this idea, they could donate a portion of the proceeds to an organization like American Cancer Society.
At age 46 I have lost my hair in chemo for breast cancer. No wigs or hats etc. This is just who I am right now. Same person, just no hair. I have alot of neighbors kids, specially girls who have questions etc. i think bald barbie would help girls understand that with or without hair your gonna be the same special, beautiful person. We are each more than our hair.
I lost all my hair due to chemo for breast cancer at age 44. I, too, didn't wear a wig or hats, except when it was cold -- then I wore a hat. I was fond of saying "The only fun thing about having breast cancer is getting to walk around bald!" I had a blast.
Isn't every Barbie essentially a bald-Barbie in waiting? Buy any Barbie, cut off her hair, and PRESTO! Same Barbie, same fashion, same joy, looks different, and that is ok. Sounds like a pretty good solution to me.
They already have a barbie doll like this. They are called Moxy dolls. My daughter has one. You buy the different wigs and underneath the doll is bald. They have teenage dolls too. You should get one.
I'm sure losing their hair doesn't bother the boys at all. If you're going to do anything why not do something for both. And instead of expecting Mattel to do it why not create, manufacture and market a chemo-doll yourselves. Then donate the profits to the cancer group you support.
THIS
Mattel makes special edition barbies that can only be found/sold in certain parts of the world. Surely, they could make some for a cancer/alopecia foundation to distribute?
barbie is the wrong doll to do this with. it already puts out an image that isn't realistic. driving a corvette, living in a mansion, a super model looking boyfriend, and being excessively skinny except in the bosom.
Oh great....another well meaning, but essentially nonsese idea from the "I don't think my brain's working" crowd. The first bald barbie will hardly be on the shelves before the single-mastectomy barbie will be clamored for...following by the double-mastectomy version, the one-eyed version, the lost-am-arm version, and so forth. There is no end to it once it gets started....want a bald barbie?....buy one and pull the hair off. What's so hard about that?
I want the Erectile Dysfunction Ken! They can dress him in a Viagra sponsored NASCAR fire suit complete with helmet and gloves! You push a little blue pill into his mouth and he pops a little tent in his suit!
Oh, and why not just pull the hair out? Because they don't want a bald Barbie. They want a toy company to brand a bald Barbie, thus having a corporation ensure them that it's OK. That is what is wrong with this. Where we look for our reassurance of our self worth.
This Barbie is already in the Works from Mattel, nice group but they were way ahead of you...especially when you got the Idea from someone else....
Sypin's 12-year-old daughter, Kin Inich, wasn't one of them, however.
"She's been very good about the whole bald thing," says Sypin. "She rocks it. She has silly wigs and hats and headbands and scarves. During the summer, she was even writing on her head and putting on temporary tattoos. She didn't care that she lost her hair. But she did care that people stared at it."
So proud of Kin Inich who turned the hair loss situation into a positive that suits her needs. I hope that others who might be similarly afflicted take some comfort and find new constructive ways to enjoy the lives they have. You go Kin!
I think a bald Barbie is a great idea, and I also think that this is one "outside source" idea that Mattel will find impossible not to do.
How about we stop looking to corporations for validation of our sense of self worth or self respect. If it's not OK for Barbie to project an unrealistic portrait of women-hood, then why is the other side of the coin OK?
These girls should be getting their reassurance from their support groups (parents,siblings,friends,etc...) and not a toy or magazine or TV. We should endeavor to break the influence of this stuff, not reinforce it.
With that said, I was once a boy child and I can tell you it's pretty easy to make a bald Barbie.
Agreed, Brian. What's next... a paraplegic Barbie, Down-syndrome Barbie, Cleft lip Barbie, Lazy eye Barbie.....
I understand that the knee-jerk response to the idea would be positive, but think about it folks.
I think a Down syndrome Barbie *and* Ken would be great. I would certainly buy one!
Next thing you know; 16 and pregnant Barbie!
Is cancer barbie also going to have a double mastectomy and have to wear a SARS mask to not get other Barbie illnesses, since her immune system is weakened by chemo?
No I don't think we need a bald barbie.
My heart goes out to anyone, especially girls at such a young age to lose all of their hair from chemo. What they need is compassion from the rest of us, but most of all, they must learn they do not need the rest of the world to conform to them. Now must we also have a psoriasis barbie or an obese barbie??
Now with that said, let's get some regular barbie dolls and rip off their hair.
It might be the hardest thing in the world to be a little girl with cancer. I wouldn't doubt it. And I'm all for showing compassion and concern for anyone suffering from such an aweful disease, but how much does a Barbie really do? Not much.
Or... or... all these people could MAKE a company that makes bald dolls, instead of thrusting their personal views upon a company which likely stands to lose significant profit. It is not the toy company (or ANY company)'s requirement to give you exactly whatever wild idea you dream up. You wanna create Barbies? Go get hired on Mattel's design team.