The Daily

Barbie is a popular brand of dolls released by Mattel which has been around since 1959, inspiring kids all over the world to be anything they want to be, at least this is what Mattel hopes. Recently Mattel released a line of 9 Barbie dolls representing different female role models such as Tennis player Venus Williams. Mattel released these dolls hoping to inspire kids to be more like their idols, however, there has been some debate around the true nature and meaning behind these representations, as well as how they could be improved. Hudson, one of our producers at The Monday Daily, chatted with a Senior lecturer in English literature from Charles Sturt University, Suzie Gibson, recently to discuss this issue.