Barbie introduces Rosa Parks doll

Barbie® recognizes all female role models. The Inspiring Women™ Series pays tribute to incredible heroines of their time; courageous women who took risks, changed rules and paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than ever before.

Rosa Louise Parks led an ordinary life as a seamstress until an extraordinary moment on December 1, 1955. When she refused an order to give up her seat to a white passenger and move to the back of the bus, Mrs. Parks’ act of defiance became the catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks’ quiet strength played a notable role in the civil rights movement, but it would still take another nine years and more struggles before the 1964 Civil Rights Act overruled existing segregations laws. Hailed as “the Mother of the Modern Civil Rights Movement,” Rosa Parks earned worldwide recognition and numerous awards including the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.

Celebrate Rosa Parks and her impact on the civil rights movement with this Inspiring Women™ Series Rosa Parks Barbie® doll. Includes doll stand, Certificate of Authenticity and doll wearing fashion and accessories. Colors and decorations may vary.

Olympic hero Ibtihaj Muhammad now has a Barbie doll

Mattel , which makes Barbie, announced Monday that the latest doll in its "Shero" collection will be modeled after Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad. In 2016, Muhammad became the first American to compete in the games while wearing a hijab.

"I'm proud to know that little girls everywhere can now play with a Barbie who chooses to wear hijab! This is a childhood dream come true," Muhammad said in a tweet. The news was announced at Glamour's Women of the Year summit. The doll will go on sale in 2018.

"Ibtihaj is an inspiration to countless girls who never saw themselves represented, and by honoring her story, we hope this doll reminds them that they can be and do anything," Sejal Shah Miller, Barbie's vice president of global marketing, said in a statement.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Doll diversity showing up in toy aisles

One of the few items on the Christmas list of Emily Noreen's 4-year-old daughter is a doll she can call her own.

"I want her to have something preferably that looks like her, which is hard because their father is African-American, and I'm white," Noreen said.

So she was heartened to find more than one option in the Our Generation line, a less-expensive alternative to American Girl, while perusing the toy aisles of Target. After some deliberation, she picked out a doll named Nahla, whose skin is a bit darker than her daughter's but whose curly hair was pretty close to her daughter's.

Richard Barry, chief merchandising officer for Toys R Us, said the changes in the toy aisles are happening as toymakers and retailers finally listen to customers' demands for more diversity.

"We hear from customers," he said. "We get applauded on the things we have, but they are also very keen to tell us the things we don't or the things they would like us to have. We feed that back to our manufacturing partners."

The need for more multicultural options was one of the insights Toys R Us took to heart when developing its private-label line of dolls called Journey Girls. Launched in 2010 with four dolls, it has expanded to seven dolls of all shades.

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