Mattel just released a Barbie with Down syndrome, and commentator Matt Walsh sees it as a pro-life victory.
The company announced the new doll on Tuesday, saying it is a reminder of “the power of representation,” CBS News reported.
The first Barbie doll with Down syndrome has been unveiled.
The release of the new design “continues to expand on inclusion in doll play,” says Lisa McKnight, the global head of Barbie and Dolls for toy maker Mattel. pic.twitter.com/9KsNXlBfmD
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 25, 2023
“The new doll’s face features a rounder shape, smaller ears, and a flat nasal bridge. Her body, meant to be more representative of women with Down syndrome, includes a shorter frame and a longer torso. Her palms even include a single line, a characteristic often associated with those with Down syndrome,” CBS added.
The Down syndrome Barbie joins a growing list of “inclusive” dolls, including Barbies in wheelchairs, Barbies with prosthetic limbs, Barbies with the skin condition vitiligo, and more.
Many of these dolls — in particular the transgender Barbie — have been lambasted as woke products that no one really asked for. Similarly, the Down syndrome doll has come in for a razzing.
Comedian Steven Crowder, for instance, laughed at the toy and quipped that Mattel was also going to introduce a “sickle cell Barbie.”
Mattel launches Down syndrome Barbie. https://t.co/DMUOlo5mYq pic.twitter.com/KyOzIcGozH
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) April 26, 2023
But Matt Walsh found no reason to mock the doll, and even insisted that it sent a great pro-life message.
“Mattel’s first Barbie doll representing someone with Down syndrome is a huge cultural win. It’s actually pro-life,” Walsh tweeted. “People with Down syndrome deserve to be included because they are the victims of an actual eugenics campaign. Take the cultural wins when we get them.”
Walsh said he almost thought the toy was going to be woke “because I saw the term ‘inclusive Barbie doll,’ and my first instinctive reaction is to roll my eyes because 99.9 percent of the time it’s going to be something stupid” or, he added, “actively objectionable.”
But Walsh went on to say that this is the 0.1 percent of the time that this form of inclusion should be praised. After all, children with conditions like Down syndrome are prime targets for abortion.
Mattel’s first Barbie doll representing someone with Down syndrome is a huge cultural win. It’s actually pro-life.
People with Down syndrome deserve to be included because they are the victims of an actual eugenics campaign. Take the cultural wins when we get them. pic.twitter.com/lfqnTFFAd6
— The Matt Walsh Show (@MattWalshShow) April 27, 2023
“If we’re doing anything as a society, I would say, to include Down syndrome children, to humanize them, represent them, that’s a good thing,” Walsh said.
Walsh concluded that conservatives should celebrate the doll even though Mattel never intended to send a pro-life message with its new Barbie.
It appears that the guffaws are in the minority. Many agreed with Walsh that the new Barbie doll was a great idea.
This is the opposite of woke. These are the lives we say have value when the left would tell you to abort. W for Barbie. https://t.co/8R2NhIstIy
— 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝙺𝚗𝚒𝚕𝚕 (@courtneyknill) April 27, 2023
This video was the first I had heard of this new doll.
I want to thank you for offering a positive perspective before I did the typical knee jerk reaction to anything woke.
This is a wonderful thing. Good on you Mattel!
— Ken Clark (@KenClark899) April 27, 2023
His take is so much better then @scrowder . Yes a Down Syndrome doll is wonderful, why not let a child have a doll that is like them. Down Syndrome children are a Blessed Gift from YHWH.
— Kandace Noelle (@Noka1968) April 27, 2023
Walsh is 100 percent right, of course.
Mattel never imagined it was putting out a product that supports the pro-life agenda. But, as Walsh said, we can’t have a knee-jerk reaction against something just because people who are usually our enemies proposed it. We are smarter than that and should use instances like this to our advantage.
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