Mattel unveils Jane Goodall Barbie, complete with chimp
7:30 JST, July 20, 2022
WASHINGTON (AFP-Jiji) — American toy manufacturer Mattel has unveiled new specialty Barbie dolls modeled after the famous English primatologist Jane Goodall and her beloved research specimen, a chimpanzee named David Greybeard.
The Goodall doll, which Mattel says will be partly made with recycled plastic, sports the researcher’s classic beige collared shirt and shorts, as well as a pair of binoculars and a blue notebook.
David Greybeard was the chimpanzee on whom Goodall wrote her initial research papers, which documented for the first time the species’ usage of tools.
“I’d been suggesting for a long time that girls don’t want just to be film stars and things like that,” said Goodall in a promotional video.
“Many of them, like me, want to be out in nature studying animals.”
The new Barbie is the latest in a series of dolls Mattel has dedicated to feminist or other inspirational icons.
Before Goodall, the toymaker had produced dolls modeled off tennis star Naomi Osaka, the cocreator of AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine Sarah Gilbert and an anonymous female “robotics engineer.”
“My heroes, my models were Tarzan, Dr. Dolittle,” said Goodall.
“There weren’t women doing the kind of things I wanted to do … so in all my dreams, I was a man.”
To all the little girls who like her would like to be changemakers, the primatologist recommends to “go for a walk in nature, learn to love it and then protect it.”
"Science & Nature" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Yellow Sand Observed in Tokyo, Osaka, Many Other Parts of Japan
-
Solar Panels Around Southern Japan’s Mt. Aso Stoke Fears Over Landscape; Local Govt Scrambles to Preserve Nature
-
Govt, U.S. Sign Deal to Send 2 Japanese Astronauts to the Moon; Toyota to Contribute to Artemis Program with Lunar Cruiser
-
Studying Dinosaurs for Humanity’s Future
-
Jellyfish Invade Venezuelan Waters, Worrying Fishermen
JN ACCESS RANKING
- M6.0 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Tohoku Region; Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi Prefectures Observe 4 on Japanese Scale With No Risk of Tsunami
- Cherry Blossoms Draw Crowd to Tokyo’s Ueno Park; Viewing Season Kicks Off to Slow Start
- China Mutes Memorialization of Reformer Hu Yaobang; Memories Could Spark Critique of Xi Administration
- Shinkansen Services Suspended After Man ‘Searches for Phone’ on Tracks; Disruption Affects About 14,000 Passengers
- Whaling Mother Ship Built in Japan for 1st Time in 73 Years