Mattel’s Mexico Barbie slammed as stereotypical

Mattel’s Mexico Barbie Doll has been slammed as stereotypical and culturally insensitive.

Dressed in a pink ruffled dress, Mexico Barbie is clutching a Chihuahua dog, a passport and a sticker sheet to record her travels.

The toy company said the doll was part of its Barbie Dolls of the World collection and was designed to teach “girls about the culture, traditions and ancestral dress of Mexico.”

But some critics said Mattel had used an outdated representation of Mexican women.  

"It sounds to me like Mattel took some shortcuts," Jason Ruiz, a professor of American studies at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind., said to ABC’s Good Morning America.

"The bright pink ribbons? A Chihuahua? That kind of stuff is so easy to use."

Others said the passport was inappropriate given the politically charged debate about immigration in the United States.

“She comes with a freakin' passport! Like she needs to prove she's not an illegal. Sinvergüenza, Mattel. That is so offensive,’’ wrote Adriana Velez on The Stir.

“As a Mexican American, I am hereby boycotting Barbie dolls forever, which will be easy because I don't have any daughters. But still!”

But perhaps critics of Mexico Barbie are overreacting, as this blogger suggests.

After all, it is just a doll and the other Barbies in the series are equally stereotypical. China Barbie, for example, is wearing a traditional Chinese dress and is holding a panda. 

What do you think?