Once again, Barbie is being criticized for damaging little girls, but not because of her unrealistic proportions. The new tokidoki Barbie has pink hair and huge neck and arm tattoos, and parents are concerned that the doll will send their precious pre-teen angel straight into the arms of some bad boy known for riding bikes and breaking girls’ hearts.
Since most 5-year-old aren’t familiar with Italian designer Simone Legno, we’re guessing his tokidoki Barbie is intended for collectors. Particularly because her spikey pet has a somewhat risque name. According to Mattel’s discription:
tokidoki® Barbie® doll is always ready for cutting-edge fashion! She pops on a pink miniskirt, logo leggings and black top with signature skull heart and bones, carries a large bag from the brand, then adds bracelets, a belt, and sky-high sparkly silvery shoes! This funky fashionista features trendy tattoos and a pink bob. With cactus friend, Bastardino, by her side, she’s ready for fun in fashion-forward form!
Yet, parents are working themselves into a tizzy about the doll’s harmful message. A commenter on the parents’ website Twixt says:
Encouraging children that tattoos are cool is wrong, wrong, wrong. Mattel why not put a cigarette and a beer bottle in her hand while you’re at it!
Obviously Barbie’s molded plastic hand is better suited to grabbing wine glasses than beer bottles, but the the point stands. As anyone who witnessed Quinn’s brief involvement with the Skanks on Glee knows, tattoos and pink hair can only lead to debauchery and sassing authority figures. We must do everything in our power to ensure that this limited edition $50 collector’s doll that’s already sold out until November doesn’t warp girls into thinking that hair color and body art are personal style choices that have nothing to do with moral character.