Eleanor Roosevelt Barbie.Photo: Barbie
WithInternational Women’s Dayless than a week away, Barbie is celebrating the best way they know how — with a brand new doll!
A likeness of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt will hit shelves on Wednesday, the latest addition to Barbie’s collection of Inspiring Women dolls.
The United States' longest-serving first lady, Roosevelt was also known for her humanitarian efforts, and had a successful career of her own, something that helped redefine what it meant to be a woman in the political sphere and in the public eye.
“We are delighted to welcome former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to the Barbie Inspiring Women series and to shine a light on how her perseverance as a champion of policies around civil and economic rights made an impact on the world,” Lisa McKnight, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Barbie and Dolls at Mattel, tells PEOPLE in a statement. “As the number one global toy property, we believe in the importance of highlighting past and modern-day role models, like Eleanor Roosevelt, to inspire the next generation of changemakers to dream bigger than ever.”
Eleanor Roosevelt doll.Barbie
She became the United Nations' American spokesman following her husband’s death, and continued to work until her own death in 1962 at age 78.
Her Barbie doll wears a black, long-sleeved dress decorated with pink and purple flowers, along with black shoes, a pearl necklace and a bowler hat.
RELATED VIDEO: You Can Now Stay in the Real Barbie Malibu Dream House Thanks to Airbnb
Meanwhile, in honor of International Women’s Day on Monday, Barbie also announced this week the launch of the virtualYou Can Be Anythingseries, which will connect young fans with role models likeGrown-ishstarYara Shahidiand fashion model and activist Adwoa Aboah.
The virtual series will kick off on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, and will air new content once a week during the month of March at 1 p.m. ET, with topics including Your Voice, Music and Dance, STEAM, and sports and wellness.
Conversations will include 15-30 minute livestreams with “today’s most prominent female leaders, trailblazers, and influencers” on Barbie’sFacebookandYouTubechannels, including Shahidi and Aboah, according to a press release.
Yara Shahidi Barbie.barbie
Adwoa Aboah Barbie.Barbie
Both Shahidi and Aboah received Barbie dollsof their own likenessesin 2019 as part of the company’scollection of “Sheroes” dolls, which featured women ages 19 to 85 in a diverse array of careers. Shahidi represented the U.S., while Aboah did the same for the U.K.
source: people.com
