The Tokyo Olympics wrapped up over the weekend, but questions linger about the impact of the games on the Japanese capital. And there’s at least one more continuing controversy — and this one’s related to the United States.
Barbie is causing trouble again.
Or more precisely, it’s the U.S. company Mattel — maker of the Barbie doll — that is coming under international fire, especially in Asia.
Mattel launched a special Olympic line of Barbies, five dolls covering the new Olympic sports introduced this year from surfing and skateboarding to rock climbing.
They came complete with plastic medals, but many say without full representation.
A volley of social media and other public reaction has criticized the collection because there don’t appear to be any East Asians in the group.
A column in the South China Morning Post reports one Barbie looks, quote “vaguely Asian,” with “almond-shaped eyes and brown hair.”
The piece quotes a Taiwanese-American entrepreneur as saying “ambiguously Asian isn’t good enough.”
Before the games got underway, Mattel put out a Naomi Osaka doll and the commemoration of the Japanese tennis star quickly sold out.
The company has not had any comment about the criticism of its Olympic set.
In a previous statement, a spokesperson said, “Barbie is the most diverse and inclusive doll line on the market today, but we are not done yet.”
That first point remains under debate. CNN cited the tweet of a Japanese American artist saying, “Mattel renders Asian Americans invisible while touting ‘most diverse doll line yet.'"
