by Celeste Montaño

At age 19, it’s been a few years since I’ve played with Barbie, or been acquainted with her latest friends and fashions. In fact, if it weren’t for the recent controversy about Mexico Barbie’s passport, I would have remained perfectly unaware of what’s going on in Barbie World. But the many news stories about Mexico Barbie meant that the doll’s picture was all over the place, and I wasn’t very thrilled when I saw her.

In case you missed it, Mexico Barbie wears a bright pink dress that’s vaguely reminiscent of “traditional” Mexico, carries a smaller version of the Taco Bell Chihuahua under one arm, and hangs out in her pueblo’s quaint plaza. She’s also described as being “inspired by traditional mariachis” and “ready for any fiesta!”

If Mexico Barbie seems familiar, that’s because she is. The doll and the way it’s being marketed are pretty unoriginal and underwhelming. You and I have seen this image of Mexico countless times, often accompanied by colorful sarapes, moustaches, and desert settings. In fact, I’m surprised that Mexico Barbie doesn’t wear a sombrero. They crammed an awful lot of stereotypes into one doll.

Don’t get me wrong, the dresses and mariachis have a special place in Mexican culture: they’re reminders of our past and of our heritage. It wouldn’t be inherently problematic to demonstrate these aspects of Mexican culture, except that they’re the only aspects that are ever represented in American media. That’s when it becomes a stereotype.

In a world where Mexico (and any other country that isn’t rich and predominantly white) is depicted as dated, backward and “undeveloped,” Mattel only is only adding fuel to the fire by producing a doll that represents old-fashioned, traditional Mexico.

But the problem is bigger than Mexico Barbie. As I poked around the Dolls of the World website, I noticed a similar pattern with the Barbies representing people of color. They mostly seem to personify well-known stereotypes instead of presenting something original and perhaps closer to reality. For example, it’s not unusual for Indian women to be reduced to bindis and saris, and I’ve also seen pandas used as a symbol for China more times than I can count.

And okay, it’s true that all the dolls in the collection, women of color or not, wear outfits inspired by their country’s customs and history. But again, the problem is that some countries are almost always depicted in that “traditional” way and others are more often portrayed as modern.

We might notice the dolls representing Spain and Holland wear traditional clothing, but media representations depict those countries—and others that are predominantly white—as complex, and capable of honoring their history while also living in modernity. Meanwhile, countries like Mexico are just depicted as being stuck in the past and tradition.

Of course, asking one plastic doll to represent a whole country’s past, present and diversity is a tall order. I don’t expect one Barbie to embody all those things, but I did expect more creativity from Mattel. At least an effort to represent cultures in a more nuanced manner, instead of recreating the same images that we see in hundreds of other places.

The Dolls of the World collection could be a chance to represent the cultures of many of the girls that will be playing with these Barbies, girls who will probably never see accurate representations of themselves in the media. I understand Mattel’s effort to introduce kids to the different cultures of the world, but I don’t understand the point if it won’t be an accurate introduction. And if these Barbies are just providing an early introduction to stereotypes that kids will continue to encounter throughout their lives, it feels unnecessary.

It worries me that young girls are being introduced early on to narratives that over-simplify the lives of different people so that it’s difficult to view them as complex beings. But I’m especially worried for all the little girls whose lives are the ones being oversimplified. I worry because this might be the first of countless missed opportunities to be represented and to see their lives reflected in a positive, self-affirming way.

Growing up, I was confused by all the stereotypes of Mexico on TV and in movies. What I saw on the screen had nothing to do with what I knew to be the reality. I had trouble reconciling what I knew with the falsehoods that others were telling me about my culture.

Years later, as I struggle to understand why I’m so annoyed with a plastic doll, it’s dawning on me that even though Mexico Barbie is familiar because she echoes hundreds of similar media depictions, she’s also completely foreign to me. I don’t know the country she represents. Mattel claims she’s representing mine, but that’s not what my culture looks like. It’s what white people think my culture looks like.