I was a Baby-Sitters Club kid through and through, so it probably comes as little surprise that one of my early memories of playing with Barbies was an elaborate storyline in which one of my Barbies explained to the other Barbies that she had diabetes.
Fast-forward 30 years, and Mattel have just launched the first Barbie to have Type 1 Diabetes in collaboration with Breakthrough T1D. I am no expert by any means, but my understanding is that (in simple terms), Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune condition where the pancreas makes either insufficient or nonexistent quantities of the hormone insulin. This substantially affects the body's ability to process carbohydrates.
The Barbie features a glucose monitor on her arm, an insulin pump attached to her abdomen, and a purse containing a mobile phone to monitor her devices and snacks to manage her blood sugar levels. Her outfit was designed to be consistent with the global symbols for diabetes awareness.
Why is this particularly important, and, for that matter, why have I been reblogging a bunch of old posts about other Barbies with disabilities? Well, studies have shown that children's exposure to diverse characters in books (and by extension, we can presume, other media for children like toys) helps children from minority groups feel seen, and builds empathy in children not from those groups.
