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Rosa Parks, Sally Ride get their own Barbie dolls as Mattel honours them on Women's Equality Day

The 'Inspiring Women' Barbie series will draw from women who broke boundaries and made the world a better place for future generations of girls.
UPDATED APR 8, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Mattel, US toys giant, has introduced signature Barbie dolls to honor civil rights activist Rosa Parks and the first American woman in space, astronaut Sally Ride. The company announced that they would be adding two new iconic women on account of Women's Equality Day (August 26). 

The Barbie dolls were added to Mattel's 'Inspiring Women' Barbie series and are now being sold for around $30.99 each. The dolls also come with information on the women and their contribution to history so that it may be explained to children. According to a press release, "These historical women broke boundaries that made the world a better place for future generations of girls."

Rosa Parks is known for her activism in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat for a white person when the all-white section of a bus was already full. Even though Parks was not the first person to boycott bus segregation, she became a symbol of civil rights activism. She also played a very important role in challenging segregation laws. When she refused to give up her seat for a white person, she was arrested for civil disobedience. This resulted in bus boycotts across Montgomery. 

Her contribution to the civil rights movement also saw her receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a statue in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. The new Barbie doll for Parks will be joined by the Sally Ride one. Sally Ride joined NASA in 1978 after the agency announced that they would be taking in female astronauts. At the age of 32, Ride became the first US woman in space in 1983 as well as the youngest astronaut to travel into space. 

The 'Inspiring Women' series was debuted on International Women's Day in 2018. The collection also features dolls that are inspired by and based on aviator Amelia Earhart and NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson. The senior vice-president and global head of Barbie, Lisa McKnight, told HuffPost, "As a brand that is dedicated to inspiring the limitless potential in every girl, Barbie is shining a spotlight on role models, historical and modern, to show them they can be anything." 

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