Like many little women, a younger Kristi Yamaguchi cherished taking part in with Barbie. With a schedule filled with ice skating practices, her Barbie dolls grew to become her “best friends.”
So, it is surreal for the adorned Olympian determine skater to now be a Barbie woman herself.
“It’s a huge, huge honor. I think a lot of pride comes along with it, not just recognizing the Olympic achievement, but also being recognized during AAPI Month and following in the footsteps of some incredible women that I idolize — Anna May Wong, Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks,” Yamaguchi instructed The Associated Press. “It’s hard to see me put in the category with them.”
BARBIE RELEASES ‘ROLE MODEL’ DOLLS OF GLOBAL STARS FOR 65TH ANNIVERSARY, INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Yamaguchi, who grew to become the primary Asian American to win a person determine skating gold medal, on the 1992 Winter Olympics, has been immortalized as a doll for Barbie’s “Inspiring Women Series,” Mattel introduced Wednesday. The launch is timed for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, in May.
This is not Yamaguchi’s first doll depiction. In the ’90s, touring present Stars on Ice put out a line of dolls modeled after notable skaters. The Barbie model is much more detailed.
Mattel duplicated every thing the then 20-year-old medalist wore on the Olympics in Albertville, France: the glowing black-and-gold brocade outfit designed by Lauren Sheehan, the gold hair ribbon and even a red-and-white bouquet like Yamaguchi held atop the rostrum.
This photograph supplied by Mattel in April 2024 reveals Kristi Yamaguchi with the corporate’s Barbie doll based mostly on the determine skater. Yamaguchi grew to become the primary Asian American to win a person gold medal for determine skating on the 1992 Winter Olympics. (Mattel by way of AP)
Yamaguchi stated each she and Sheehan are “just so tickled pink.”
She can be proud of the doll’s visage.
“It looks like me for sure. You know, the eyes and just the shape of the face. And then, of course, the hair, for sure. I mean, it has the bangs that are the ’90s,” Yamaguchi stated, chuckling.
She appreciates that the doll’s launch comes on the excessive heels of the blockbuster “Barbie” film final 12 months. Her daughters, ages 18 and 20, are followers of the Oscar-nominated movie. Their preliminary response to their mom being a Barbie? Disbelief.
“When they found out I was getting a doll, they were kind of flabbergasted and being like, ‘What? Like Mom, like how do you qualify? But that’s way too cool for you,’” Yamaguchi stated.
When Yamaguchi grew to become a family title within the ’90s, most Asian American kids had been rising up feeling like toys-aren’t-us children. If you had been an Asian guardian in search of an Asian doll within the U.S., you doubtless turned to impartial mail-order corporations or waited till you had been visiting your nation of heritage.
Since then, the toy market has advanced considerably with large corporations like Mattel diversifying and impartial entrepreneurs filling the void. Two Asian doll strains — Jilly Bing and Joeydolls — launched throughout the final 12 months, one by an Asian American mom and the opposite by an Asian Canadian mom. Both couldn’t discover dolls that appeared like their daughters.
Sapna Cheryan, a professor of psychology on the University of Washington who served a 12 months on Mattel’s Barbie Global Advisory Council in 2018, stated Asian Americans have lengthy handled two stereotypes: the model-minority whiz child or the perpetual foreigner. Toys might help dispel these myths, and as an alternative sign acceptance and inclusivity.
Dolls modeled after actual individuals can get individuals speaking about their human counterparts. Cheryan applauded Barbie’s selection of Yamaguchi.
“There are so many Asian American athletes but they’re just not propped up in a way that athletes of other racial groups are,” stated Cheryan, who researches cultural stereotypes and their affect on race and gender disparities. “Having a match in terms of racial identification or gender or both,” she stated, is necessary in creating efficient position fashions for teenagers.
Mattel has largely garnered reward for its range efforts nevertheless it’s had some missteps alongside the best way. In 2021, the toy maker stated it “fell short” by failing to incorporate an Asian doll in a line of Tokyo Olympics-themed Barbies. In January, there was some backlash to Asian “You Can Be Anything” Barbies that appeared stereotypical. One was a violinist and the opposite a health care provider in panda scrubs.
Tying Yamaguchi to Barbie, an emblem of American popular culture, is particularly outstanding contemplating what she and her household have handled as Japanese Americans. She has spoken about how her maternal and paternal grandparents had been compelled into U.S. incarceration camps in response to Japan’s 1941 assault on Pearl Harbor.
When she captured the gold over 50 years later, media protection partially centered on why she did not appear to have many endorsement offers. In an AP article from 1992, a sports activities promoting govt blamed her Japanese heritage, citing an financial local weather that was anti-Japan. “It’s wrong, wrong, wrong, but that is the way it is,” the chief stated.
So whereas Barbie might seem to be only a toy, it is a lot extra for Yamaguchi.
“When kids see themselves or see someone who inspires them, then it just opens up their world and their imagination to what’s possible,” she stated.
https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/barbie-release-new-doll-modeled-olympian-figure-skater-kristi-yamaguchi
