Mattel has launched the world's first gender-inclusive dolls, called “Creatable World.”
The various doll figures come with a kit of various hair, clothes, and accessory options so kids can create their own custom doll, ABC 12 reports. “In our world, dolls are as limitless as the kids who play with them,” Mattel said in a statement. The gender-neutral dolls arrive after Mattel introduced Barbie dolls with different skin tones and body types in 2016.
The first promotional spot for Mattel’s new product features kids who go by different pronouns—him, her, them, xem—and the slogan, “A doll line designed to keep labels out and invite everyone in.” With this new line of dolls, the toy company is betting on the future, even though it could exclude part of the population, Time magazine reports. According to the publication, a Pew Research survey from 2017 showed that “while 76% of the public supports parents’ steering girls to toys and activities traditionally associated with boys, only 64% endorse steering boys toward toys and activities associated with girls.”
Mattel tested the doll with 250 families in seven states—included in that pool were 15 children who identify as trans, gender-nonbinary, or gender-fluid. According to Time, the population of young people who identify as gender-nonbinary is on the rise. A 2018 Pew study found 35% of Gen Z-ers (born 1995 to 2015) say they know someone who identifies as they/them, compared to 16% of Gen X-ers (born 1965 to 1980). These projections with Generation Alpha (born 2010 and later) will only continue.
However, some parents in the testing groups thought the doll pushes a political agenda, while others didn’t want their sons playing with dolls. “We’re not in the business of politics,” Richard Dickson, Mattel’s President told Time, “and we respect the decision any parent makes around how they raise their kids. Our job is to stimulate imaginations. Our toys are ultimately canvases for cultural conversation, but it’s your conversation, not ours; your opinion, not ours.”
“I think if we could have a hand in creating the idea that a boy can play with a perceived girl toy and a girl can play with a perceived boy toy, we would have contributed to a better, more sensitive place of perception in the world today,” he said. “And even more so for the kids that find themselves in that challenging place, if we can make that moment in their life a bit more comfortable, and knowing we created something that makes them feel recognized, that’s a beautiful thing.”
Mattel’s gender-neutral dolls retail for $29.99 and can be found here. Read some reactions to the dolls below.
