Sümeyye Boyacı Barbie Doll

Barbie dolls in their line Barbie Role Models, a line dedicated to building female models in an effort to close the so-called “dream gap”, a moment in the lives of girls when, due to social pressure, they begin to doubt that they are capable to be what they set out to be.

A few days before the commemoration of International Women's Day, the American toy company Barbie launched a series of sports-inspired dolls that celebrate female role models.

The launch of the company is part of the Sheroes initiative, which pays tribute to outstanding women in different fields and the Dream Gap Project. Barbie's Dream Gap, explained by the company as a gap that exists between girls and their potential in fields that have traditionally been occupied by men, and the company seeks to share stories of women from different occupations to encourage I encourage the girls of the world to be whatever they want to be.

Tokyo 2020 and Barbie honored great athletes: the Turkish swimmer Sümeyye Boyacı, the French soccer player Amandine Henry, the Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan, the British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, the Portuguese surfer Teresa Bonvalot and the German jumper Malaika Mohambo. Barbie made a figure dedicated to each of them because of her power to inspire girls, women and people in general to reach their maximum potential in the sporting field.

Sümeyye Boyacı was born without arms and with a dislocated hip. A congenital health problem that would have destined anyone to live in bed. However, her special condition was not an impediment for the 16-year-old girl to become a Paralympic athlete.

Boyacı is just 16 years old and competes in the S5 category for people with amputations or limitations in their upper limbs. Her strength is the butterfly style, free and backstroke.

Her success inspired Mattel, who, within the framework of International Women's Day, announced yesterday a Barbie. The doll shows a small version of the athlete, she has no arms and she wears a swimsuit with wings, similar to that of the athlete, with a medal, brown hair and one leg shorter than the other.

Boyacı said on Instagram: We stand on our own feet and fly towards our dreams with our wings that no one sees. Women do everything when we want with our hearts, we achieve it! We will be perfect, when we are our own. We become the most perfect person in the world with our logic and consciousness, when we manage our bodies, ideas and decisions... Barbie and I celebrate World Women's Day.