WWE, Mattel release Barbie-inspired Superstar dolls at incredibly awkward time
Just hours after explaining the new attitude towards female wrestlers, WWE releases a set of dolls that show the company still has much to learn.
This past Tuesday, WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon explained to an audience at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado how “pushback” from fans over the term “diva” led to the company to rebrand the women’s division.
WWE fans on Twitter created the #GiveDivasAChance hashtag and it trended for almost a week. WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon tweeted to fans that the cries weren’t falling on deaf ears.
Maybe those deaf ears were all working in the toy development division?
"“Two years after the hashtag #GiveDivasAChance went viral and propelled the WWE’s female wrestlers to equal time with their male counterparts, Mattel has turned the new Superstars into a line of Barbie-styled fashion dolls. They’ll be available for pre-order online on Monday and hit store shelves in early September.”"
Here’s the complete press release from Mattel and the WWE.
Now, to be clear, female action figures are nothing new for the Federation. The women have been replicated in plastic for years as action figures. Check out the Sasha Banks WWE Elite wrestling figure versus the updated 12-inch WWE Superstar doll.
Ok fine, so the WWE and Mattel want to appeal to an audience of young women who might also like playing with Barbies, as Fatherly points out in their article.
"“Forty percent of professional wrestling fans are female, and almost 11 million women and girls tune in weekly.”"
So if those women tune in to see the women compete and cheer on their heroes, wouldn’t they want the toy version to be as authentic as possible and not come with dresses and high heels?
"“Action meets fashion with WWE Superstars Fashion Dolls! These approximately 12-inch WWE Superstars fashion dolls feature multiple points of articulation, amazing details and are fearlessly fashionable! Each WWE Superstars wears a fashion inspired by their signature style for a look that girls will love! Plus, these incredible dolls can also stand alone with their shoes on—perfect for recreating WWE Superstars action-fashion poses! Each doll includes outfit and shoes.”"
Of course! All those “action-fashion” poses that the women are always doing on Raw and Smackdown. Look out, Natalya! Charlotte Flair is looking for you and she’s not just mad, she’s FEARLESSLY FASHIONABLE!
More fansided.com: WWE Shows '#GiveDivasAChance' Was Temporary
As the father of a young girl who hopefully grows up to love wrestling as much as I do, it feels rather disingenuous to change stereotypes and the way women are perceived in professional wrestling while at the same time green-lighting dolls reinforcing those exact stereotypes.
These are female professional wrestlers and not Divas! But if they were…here’s totally the dress they’d wear!
I guess we’ll just have to let those 11 million female fans decide.