CREATABLE WORLD� Deluxe Character Kit - DC-073

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Never heard of this line before, but I really appreciate its existence as a nonbinary and genderfluid person myself. Toys can be so obsessively gendered, and this has always bothered me even as a kid. I would have loved to grow up with several dolls like this. Not to mention, the fashions that come with the dolls are fun and colorful, which is great to see when a lot of clothes today that are branded as "gender-neutral" are just plain brown or beige. I also think the potential for play is really great here, because kids can make many characters out of one doll to fit a variety of stories, regardless of gender. It's such a shame that the wigs do not fit right and are just plain bad in some cases, because I really like the idea of having dolls with rooted hair under wigs so that you can choose whether to give the dolls bangs or not, and you don't have bald dolls lying around like you mentioned about the Liv dolls. Still, these dolls will now have a special place in my heart, as I wish I could have grown up with a toy that treated gender-neutrality with such normalcy as these dolls do, if only the wigs were better lol. Creatable World re-imagines the Barbie doll for the modern world. The dolls are more childlike in appearance (similar to Lottie dolls which are based on the proportions of a nine year-old child) and come with a range of clothes and hair options. Interestingly, both children wanted a doll that looked like them; then as they began to play they became more imaginative. They played together for the first time in a while, sharing the clothes and accessories, and commenting on the different combinations each other made. They tried plenty of different options with both long and short hair.

The journey in the research, design, development, and launch of Creatable World took about two years.My name is Linda Jiang and I am a toy designer living in Los Angeles, California. I design fashion dolls at Mattel, and I am the lead designer of Creatable World, a gender-inclusive doll line.

For can't-miss news, expert beauty advice, genius home solutions, delicious recipes, and lots more, sign up for the Good Housekeeping newsletter . Rodriguez, Adrianna. "The company that created Barbie is introducing a line of gender-neutral dolls". USA Today . Retrieved 4 October 2019.

Toys

I would have sworn that I'd donated my Creatable World sets to the Goodwill when we moved last year. In the blurred flurry of clearing out the house, I let go of a lot of things that I never thought I would be able to part with. But when I was sorting through some moving boxes a few months ago, I found both of the sets! I guess they made the cut. It was extra-fun to find these dolls because I couldn't remember exactly which ones I'd chosen, and I love a good surprise! My biggest hurdle working on Creatable World was trying to open existing perceptions of feminine and masculine styles. Deep-ingrained societal gender signifiers such as color and hairstyle were particularly challenging. For too long a time, the color pink has been associated with girls, and blue for boys. Society has dictated that long hair signifies “feminine.” Even clothing isn’t sold by categories such as “pants” or “shirts,” but by gender. As a society, we are still at the early stages of breaking gender social constructs.

It takes our development cycle about a year - we can go a little bit faster, we can accelerate - but with Creatable World, for example, we debated about for two years. The thing with toys is that we are a reflection of what's happening in the world, and it's important for us to get that timing right. And I think Creatable World is being launched at just the right time when the world is beginning to shift in our consciousness around these subjects. So what’s next? As a parent that ambivalence continued. My daughter received a cluster of Barbies for her fourth birthday which she adored with all her heart. I felt torn. I didn’t want to be the parent to deny my child a toy they clearly got so much enjoyment from, but equally the highly made-up, scantily clad, anatomically-impossible dolls could not have been further from my scruffy four year-old in grubby playclothes. Personally, I don't think they look that bad next to a Barbie. They're definitely not quite in scale, but Lena's head looks to be a bit on the smaller side, so they might look better with a larger-headed Barbie, or one of the Disney dolls perhaps. Plus, as a kid, I had a variety of dolls this size that definitely didn't all match stylistically, and it never bothered me. There's something really endearing about that picture of Riley and Lena. I can see a definite family resemblance, and that combined with their natural, affectionate pose really makes them look like siblings.Through research, we heard that kids don’t want their toys dictated by gender norms," Kim Culmone, Mattel's Senior Vice President of Mattel Fashion Doll Design, said in a statement. "This line allows all kids to express themselves freely, which is why it resonates so strongly with them. We’re hopeful Creatable World will encourage people to think more broadly about how all kids can benefit from doll play.” The doll can have long hair or short, wear play clothes or party clothes, and crucially the child gets to decide if it’s a girl or a boy. The dolls are jointed, like an action figure, giving children more options for how to play with them.

Picchi, Aimee. "Mattel's gender-neutral dolls are ready for the holidays, but shoppers may not be so sure". USA Today. a b Salam, Maya. "Mattel, Maker of Barbie, Debuts Gender-Neutral Dolls". The New York Times . Retrieved 31 January 2020.Growing up as a first generation Asian American, my first language was Mandarin. I learned to speak English when I started attending elementary school, and it was difficult connecting to other kids in my grade due to language and cultural barriers. My parents didn’t raise my sisters and me to conform to gender stereotypes and beauty standards - this is something we didn’t realize until we were adults and I deeply appreciate my parents for that. The 11-inch (29.94-cm) doll has short, chestnut brown hair, blue eyes, and wears a simple tank and shorts -- giving kids a blank canvas to create whoever they want!