The iconic Barbie doll has received a lot of criticism for teaching kids to aspire to unrealistic body types, so digital artist and designer Nickolay Lamm decided to create a “normal barbie” named Lammily. This realistic doll has the body proportions of a 19-year-old girl and can have tattoos, warts, acne, stretch marks, and other realistic skin flaws.
A sticker pack that comes with the real-image doll allows kids to apply all the sorts of skin imperfections that people have, teaching kids that they don't have to aspire to or value the unrealistic body images promoted by Barbie or Ken dolls. And, judging by the reactions of the 2nd-graders Lamm showed his doll to, the message has been received with open arms!
Lamm told HuffPost that he “wanted to show that average is beautiful and that we shouldn’t compare ourselves to unrealistic beauty standards. And I feel Barbie kind of symbolizes that.”
Read on for a few of Lamm's answers to Bored Panda's questions!
"Normal Barbie" has the average body shape of a 19-year-old girl
"I personally have nothing against Barbie and feel she's a great toy," Nickolay Lamm told Bored Panda. "I'm just trying to add diversity to dolls for girls"
Just like a real girl, she can get acne, bruises, and other body marks, all included in Lammily’s sticker pack
"A lot of dolls look like supermodels. There's nothing wrong with looking like a supermodel, but I feel if some dolls were more like real girls, then it may send the message that it's okay to look like a typical person as well"
Lammily with some stretch mark stickers on her belly
"It's okay to look like a supermodel and it's okay to look like a typical person"
“Normal Barbie” with a cellulite sticker on her leg
"Kids like it, saying she's just like a real person. Of course, kids like Barbie as well and that's how it should be. And that's great"
Lammily loves sports, but she can get bruised just like we do
"Lammily is the name of the company - soon there will be a passport feature on Lammily.com so you can name the doll what you want"
This doll encourages young girls to love their bodies
Lammily Barbie with freckle stickers on her cheeks
She has flexible limbs, realistic fingers and toes, and free-standing feet, allowing kids to involve her in sports that they couldn't involve the classic Barbie doll in
Here she is with tattoo stickers
“Normal Barbie” with her arm in a cast – yes, she can get hurt too!
Lammily blushes when she's been caught eating all the cookies
A pack of Lammily Marks
Compare the traditional Barbie doll on the left to Lamm’s first realistically proportioned doll model on the right
Watch the beautiful reactions of 2nd-graders meeting Lammily for the first time:
Thank you, Nickolay Lamm, for talking to Bored Panda about your wonderful product celebrating natural beauty. We're excited to see what you'll think of next!