Little Girl With Spina Bifida Lights Up As She Receives Barbie That Looks Like Her

Sep 16, 2020

Almost everyone over the age of 20 can remember the era of Barbie dolls. As children, the dolls were fun to play with, but they had one fatal flaw that many of us now realize. The dolls greatly lacked variety in terms of ethnicity and body type. They were designed as a perfect depiction of a blonde woman, with a slender body, and defined curves.

Of course, one can see how this may be a problem for women of other hair or skin colors. Other factors that Barbie dolls failed to consider were skin disorders and disabilities. Two-year-old Ella Rogers from Ohio finally got to see herself in a doll when she was given one that looked just like her in 2020.

As children, most of us did not know any better and continued to play with the dolls. However, parents and adults everywhere have recently begun taking a stand towards the unrealistic portrayal of girls and women given by these dolls.

After inclusion and diversity were demanded, retailers opened up their markets for a stream of diversified dolls that catered to the needs of all children. Barbie dolls can now be found in different skin tones, body shapes, and even genders.

When a young girl named Ella decided that she wanted a doll, her mother, Lacey Brown-Rogers, began her search for one, as Good Morning America reports. Mattel has recently launched a new line of dolls that include various ethnicities, sizes, and shapes, so Lacey had an easier time finding a doll than other parents might have had. The most notable dolls of this line are the dolls with prosthetics, vitiligo, and even ones with wheelchairs.

Little Ella was born with a birth defect called spina bifida. This means that her spinal cord did not develop properly. Due to her condition, Ella was left paralyzed from the waist down and requires a wheelchair to move around.

Although she is only two years old, she already recognizes that she is different from plenty of other children her age and was ecstatic when her mother gave her a doll that was just like her. Lacey felt that the doll with the wheelchair was perfect for her daughter, given that it provides children like her the representation that they deserve.

Lacey made sure to record the moment because she wanted to capture as much of Ella's excitement as she could. Ella was very excited to see a doll that looked just like her and she quickly held the doll close. The video has gone viral across the internet as people everywhere have fallen in love with Ella's fondness towards her doll.

According to Local 12, Lacey even sent the video to Mattel, the creators of the Barbie doll, who have given her great support. If it was not for their new line of dolls, Lacey would not be able to see this moment. For Ella, this doll was a symbol of hope and gave her the proper representation that she needed. She now knows that there are other children like her and that she does not need to feel so alone anymore. Lacey is extremely thankful to Mattel for their newfound inclusion and diversity within their dolls.

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