Barbie Releases New "Role Model" Series Including Canadian Olympic Skater Tessa Virtue

For Barbie's 60th anniversary and International Women’s Day, the doll company is celebrating female role models. Barbie has released the "Role Model" doll series and they even included Canadian Olympic skater Tessa Virtue. "We proudly honor #MoreRoleModels than ever from around the globe in an effort to inspire more girls," says Barbie about their new collection on their website. 

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Barbie made the announcement today on March 6 that they would be creating dolls after different female role models around the world. A total of 20 different dolls inspired by women from 18 different countries would be released for the series.

Athletes, actresses, activists, journalist and more were honoured in Barbie's new role model collection. One Canadian has been included and we couldn't be more excited about it – Tessa Virtue, beloved Olympic ice skating champion, will soon have her very own Barbie doll. 

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Not only are we stoked about this, but Tessa Virtue too! She was super excited to share that a Barbie doll had been made after her. The ice skating champion broke the news to her fans on Twitter today and people have been super excited about it and to see some Canadian representation.

Check out the tweet she posted on Twitter below!

I’ve been wanting to share this news forever!@Barbie’s 60th anniversary #YouCanBeAnything campaign is honouring #MoreRoleModels in their continued commitment to #CloseTheDreamGap-SO EXCITED & HONOURED to be part of it.

More to come, need to collect my emotions first 😭 https://t.co/xg24LRFGtj

— Tessa Virtue (@tessavirtue) March 6, 2019

Virtue's Barbie doll will wear the same iconic red dress that the figure skater wore during her free dance with partner Scott Moir at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, a performance they won an Olympic gold medal for. 

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Virtue was honoured among other other strong female role models such as actress Yara Shadi from Blackish, artist Frida Kahlo, American snowboarding champion Chloe Kim, body activist and model Ashley Graham and more! 

Check out a photo of all the new Barbie "Role Model" dolls below! 

As part of our ongoing commitment to #CloseTheDreamGap, we are honoring #MoreRoleModels from around the world than ever before. These women are breaking boundaries to inspire the next generation of girls. 🌍 Learn more: https://t.co/dDN166naY4. #YouCanBeAnything #Barbie60 pic.twitter.com/giiaPkvSS5

— Barbie (@Barbie) March 6, 2019

The new Role Model collection from Barbie has been met with highly positive responses so far. Many people have taken to Twitter to express how excited they are about the collection, and especially about Tessa Virtue getting her own Barbie doll. 

Check out what they have had to say below! 

What a unique, great and beautiful way to continue to inspire and be a role model for kids from all around the world starting from a young age!
Congratulations @tessavirtue!!

— Monica (@captvirtuemoirs) March 6, 2019

So glad that you chose Tessa Virtue! She is such an amazing athlete and an even more incredible person! Such a well-deserved honor! I hope that the decision to not produce more Barbies is reconsidered-it would be great to have our world’s children learning about these women!

— Kristen Friedland (@KristenFriedlan) March 6, 2019

Oh my goodness. Talk about insta-sobbing. I can't stop. 😭 This is amazing. I can't even. please hold. pic.twitter.com/opuKzls8f1

— Suzanne Killing Wood (@s_killingwood) March 6, 2019

You are, together with all the other women in this group, a true role model for a lot of girls and woman in this world. Most of us won’t be a Olympic Ice dancer BUT we can succeed and be awesome in whatever we do! Thanks for being you and showing us how to reach for the stars!💕

— Annette_☀️🇨🇦🧠 (@Lighthouse0107) March 6, 2019

how cool is it that there’s going to be kids growing up that will have played with a tessa virtue barbie!! my heart is so full, i’m so proud! 💞💗💘💝💕

— úna (@virtuwu) March 6, 2019

With this new collection, Barbie is showing that they're making efforts to be more inclusive and display diverse types of beauty with their "Role Model" dolls.

We hope Barbie continues taking steps forward to showcase all the different types of strong women we are continually inspired by in the world. 

Inspired by: Ariane Fortin – Narcity Quebec