A rainbow playsuit and a pink ramp?

Wheelchair
Barbie is like looking in a mirror
I don’t believe a toy will solve society’s problems, but finding a doll that looked
like me sent the wordless message, ‘You belong’
Frances Ryan Wed 27 Dec 2023 09.00 CET

It is mid-November and I am browsing Christmas presents online for my niece. I scroll

through a sea of dolls, small bricks and future landfill until I notice her: Wheelchair Barbie.
She is blonde, her long glossy hair draped down her back. Her accessories include a watch,
movable joints and a bright pink ramp. She is wearing a rainbow-coloured playsuit. It is
like looking in a mirror. 5
Growing up in the 1990s as a disabled child, I had no doll that looked like me. I could play
with a dog that went to outer space or a flame-haired troll who skateboarded. But a toy
with a disability was apparently beyond what any corporate executive could imagine.
Over the past decade, this has slowly changed. Go to any toy store and you’ll be likely to see
shelves speckled with diversity: dolls of colour (notably, the “Barbie Fashionistas doll with 10
wheelchair” also comes with an afro-haired option); those with Down’s syndrome; even
dolls that look as if they’ve seen a carbohydrate. I believe they call this progress.
Scroll social media when such a product is launched, and you would be forgiven for thinking
a “woke toy” was one of the four signs of the apocalypse. (If your blood pressure rises at the
thought of a doll who sits down, may I humbly suggest you consider time with a therapist?) 15
And yet any backlash from bigoted adults feels insignificant compared with the significance
of diverse toys for children. It is hard to put into words what representation does for a young
mind, partly because the effects are rarely conscious. It is a drip, drip – a wordless message
that says: you belong.
It isn’t just a minority’s own sense of self that’s affected by inclusion, but also how others 20
see you. Research by Queen Margaret University found that children develop “a more
positive friendship attitude towards their peers with disabilities” after playing with toys
that represent them for just three minutes.
At four years old, my niece is starting to notice that some people are different to her. As
anyone who has ever spoken to a child will know, children are naturally accepting. Also 25
narcissistic. On the rare occasions my niece asks about my disability, she will listen to my
answer and then ask what’s for her tea. I like the idea of showing her a doll that fills in the
blanks for her. I like the idea that something she loves – Barbie, not me – includes disability.
I’m not going to suggest that a doll will fix society. My general rule is that egalitarianism
won’t be achieved by anything you can buy in John Lewis. Corporations are not here to save 30
us (no matter how good the Barbie movie was). …..

What does this text make you think about the importance of toys for kids? Make notes below.

© David Ripley & Joe O’Callaghan, InThinking

http://www.thinkib.net/englishb
Interpreting words and phrases
In the following MCQs, choose the option which is the most correct meaning in the context.

1. When the writer says that some dolls “look as though they have seen a carbohydrate” (l.12), she is
suggesting that they

A appear to have a correct diet

B look like they have normal weight
C
C do not suffer from malnutrition
2. Commenting that the social media response to the disabled doll was as if it was “one of the four
signs of the apocalypse” (l.14), indicates that the response was

A generally positive
B rather confused
C
C extremely negative
3. The term “backlash” (l.16) means

A hostile reaction
B aggressive behaviour
A
C illogical argument
4. If one experiences “inclusion” (l.20), this means

A being affected psychologically

B identifying yourself as a minority
C
C feeling part of normal society
5. The use of the word “narcissistic” (l.26) in this context implies that children are

A imaginative
B self-centred
B
C not interested
6. The social ideal of “egalitarianism” (l.29) is that everyone

A has the same rights

B can feel that they are free
A
C should be the same

© David Ripley & Joe O’Callaghan, InThinking

http://www.thinkib.net/englishb