World's largest toy company unveils gender-neutral doll

Androgyny has found its space on the toy aisle. Mattel has officially launched the world’s first line of gender-neutral dolls, marketed as Creatable World. Promising to make “doll play more inclusive,” Mattel offers a kit that lets kids make a doll that’s male, female, or neither. “In our world, dolls are as limitless as the kids who play with them,” reads a release from Mattel. The company says the Creatable World doll line is “designed to keep labels out and invite everyone in — giving kids the freedom to create their own customizable characters again and again.” Mattel suggested in a product demonstration for Time that the new dolls will appeal to kids who don't naturally feel like Barbie or Ken. There an 8-year-old child identified as Shi’a reacted enthusiastically to the toy. “The hair is just like mine,” Shi’a said. The doll has no gender-distinctive facial features and no built in makeup features like long eyelashes or blush, common attributes of dolls in the girls' aisle. The body is that of a child, with no masculine shoulders like a G.I. Joe and no breasts like a Barbie doll. The default hairstyle is a short cut that can be worn by boys and girls, and the doll also comes with a long hair wig. The toy also comes with a unisex wardrobe of hip 2019 clothes. Mattel priced the first dolls in the line at USD$29.99, and they are available in with a variety of skin tones and hair colors. The kits can be found at Target, Walmart, or Amazon.