Barbie: Bald and beautiful?

For a child, Barbie often represents beauty, perfection and a dream. For this reason, Mattel Inc. holds a huge platform in the molding of personality and self-confidence of young children. A group on Facebook recognized the impact Barbie makes in the lives of children and took action by starting an online petition to the company and asked them to create a bald Barbie for sick children.

The Facebook page, titled "Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Let's see if we can get it made," aims to persuade Mattel Inc. that a bald Barbie will make children who suffer with cancer, alopecia or trichotillomania feel confident, even when their hair is gone – and it doesn't stop there. The group also requests that a portion of the proceeds benefit childhood cancer research and treatment.

Children grow up in a world where they have to own a certain toy, wear a particular clothing brand or act a certain way to have friends and be accepted. No child should grow up feeling like she is not as pretty as other kids because she suffers from a disease that's taken her hair from her. A disease is simply something she can't help, and we as people should take it upon ourselves to let her know that she is still beautiful, with or without hair.

According to the Facebook page, the petition currently has over 22,000 signatures. Users and fans of the petition post photos of themselves bald and proud, and others offer encouraging words and well-wishes to the website's cause. A few users have taken it a step further and suggested the idea of creating a bald G.I. Joe or Ken doll for young boys.

However, much to my surprise, I came across a Facebook user who felt differently on the topic. This user raised the thought that when his previous wife died of ovarian cancer, he didn't demand a bald Barbie, nor did he demand a Barbie with no breasts when his current wife suffered breast cancer. Instead, he explained to his six-year-old daughter that bad things happen to good people. While bad things do happen to good people, children react differently to difficult situations and maybe, just maybe, a doll that favors them will reach their emotions easier than the typical "everything will be okay" and "it's okay to be different" method.

Unfortunately, yet somehow not surprisingly, Mattel reportedly wrote a response letter to women who petitioned, and said the company did not accept ideas from outside sources. Well, maybe if the company cared about its consumers as people other than dollars, making a Barbie for the esteem and wellness of sick children wouldn't be such a huge problem.

If molding children's self-confidence isn't reason enough, try the usage of Barbie to teach tolerance to those children who are happy and healthy and make jokes at the expense of those who are not.

Many Facebook users and myself agree, if children's parents purchased bald Barbie dolls for their child and explained the dolls hairless head, maybe more children wouldn't see it as being so strange that a little girl lacks the hair that we often take advantage or wish was different in color or volume.

If Barbie's looks represent beauty, her body represents perfection, her different professions and hobbies represent dreams, and little girls all over the globe want her in their possession, maybe it's time Mattel stands up for children who are just like others in every way except their hair.