Impossibly thin, impossibly tall and not-so impossibly blonde; this is the image of the classic Barbie doll. 

Barbie’s unrealistic, well, almost everything wasn’t the only problem she had, until Mattel, the parent company that produces Barbie, made some changes in the Barbie doll line up.

Mattel is releasing a new line of dolls called “fashionistas.” According to Barbie’s official website the new line includes 4 body types, 7 skin tones, 22 eye colors and 24 hairstyles. Dolls will now come in a variety of ethnicities and sizes, while their clothes and over-all looks won’t remain so cookie-cutter perfect either. 

Curvy, petite and tall are the new body types being introduced. The original Barbie body type is still available and includes the new skin tones, eye colors and hairstyles.

In my experience, the most publicized and talked about change is the body type of each doll. Barbies have long been criticized for their impossible body type — giving young girls the idea they should strive to be like her, when in reality it’s unrealistic for masses of young girls to imagine they’ll all grow up supermodel thin.

Body positivity is a movement we should all get behind, and Barbie taking a step in that direction is a pretty big deal for young girls. 

Dolls are not only playthings for children, but also vessels for them to project themselves onto. Introducing more diverse dolls allows young girls to play with dolls more closely resembling themselves and the people they see around them, rather than a doll whose looks are unattainable. 

The amount of diversity among the dolls is great for a first step at making them more relatable — there is even a new doll that looks like me, blue hair and all. To say the body types are realistic is still a bit of a stretch, but bringing representation to the bodies of real women is doing more good than bad at this point. 

The change I’ve heard much less about, but is arguably more important, is the introduction of new skin tones, eye colors and hairstyles. 

Growing up as a white girl with blue eyes and brown hair, it wasn’t hard to find a Barbie, or any other doll, that looked like me. But for any other skin color or hair texture, finding a doll that matches you isn’t such an easy feat. These girls aren’t given the same opportunity to project themselves on to their toys when they play, because their dolls don’t look like them.

The Guardian gave a group of girls from ages two to eight and a two-year-old boy the new tall, curvy and petite Barbies to play with. The children seemed to like the curvy dolls because they were stronger and easier to hold, rather than their more realistic body types. The skin and hair colors, however, did leave an impression. 

Some of the children took a liking to the dolls that looked like them, stating they sometimes like to play with dolls that look like them, as well as dolls that don’t. 

Lela, 8, even said she thought the new dolls were more fun because they looked like real people she saw walking down the street. 

The new sizes and skin colors of the dolls, as I said, are a step in the right direction, but the work is far from done. Barbie dolls are still lacking an equal mix of skin tones and hair types. 

Most of the new dolls are still hyper-feminine representations of women. Only three of the new dolls are wearing pants, and only four have hair lengths above their shoulders. There is much more diversity among women that will hopefully be incorporated into Barbie in the future, but until then, we’re on the right path.