How Barbies Have Changed Over The Years

Mattel made the biggest change to Barbie's design in 2016 when the company released multiple dolls with varied body types. Along with the original Barbie design, petite, tall, and curvy dolls became available for purchase. The line of inclusive Barbies also featured skin tone and hair texture options in an attempt to more closely reflect the diversity of Barbie's customer base.

As noted in a Time cover story, Barbie faced backlash for years for the unrealistic standards the doll set for women. Though Mattel argued the brand has always been for female empowerment with Barbie's many memorable careers to show for it, there have also been controversies, such as a 1963 Barbie doll that was sold with a diet book that included the toxic instruction of "Don't eat." This 2016 release was a big shift away from those problematic sentiments. "Some people will say we are late to the game," Evelyn Mazzocco, head of the Barbie brand, said. "But changes at a huge corporation take time."

The new body types were definitely a huge step towards inclusivity, but it's evident the work isn't over. For example, as one woman told Time, the curvy doll could be fuller figured. "There are shapes that are curvier and still are beautiful. My daughter definitely has curves, and I would want to give her a doll like that," she said.