Mattel has debuted its first Barbie with Type One diabetes, featuring an insulin pump and a pink heart-shaped glucose monitor on her arm. More than 300,000 children and teenagers are living with T1D, and the new doll is meant to reflect their daily reality.

Boston

Mattel has launched its first Barbie doll designed to represent children living with type 1 diabetes, featuring an insulin pump and a pink heart-shaped glucose monitor. This initiative aims to reflect the experiences of more than 300,000 children and teenagers with the condition and is part of Mattel's broader efforts to diversify the Barbie brand.

Experts note that Barbie has historically faced criticism for promoting a narrow standard of beauty, but recent years have seen the introduction of dolls with varied body types, skin tones, and medical conditions. The company’s shift is seen as a response to changing consumer expectations, particularly among parents seeking more inclusive toys for their children.

Latest Barbie doll pushing the needle forward in representation

Mattel has debuted its first Barbie with type 1 diabetes, featuring an insulin pump and a pink heart-shaped glucose monitor on her arm. More than 300,000 children and teenagers are living with type 1 diabetes. The new doll is meant to reflect their daily reality. It's the latest step in Mattel's push toward diversity and inclusion. We've watched the brand that's beloved by some and criticized by others for offering what they say is the narrowest example of beauty evolve a bit in recent years. Let's get some more insight by turning to Rebecca Haynes, professor at Salem State University and expert on children's media culture. Thanks so much for being with us. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Of course. So let's start with old Barbie, right? She was young, thin, blonde, had proportions that would result in an almost impossible to function in body, but she exceeded sales expectations from the minute she was introduced back in 1959. What messages do you think Americans took from that Barbie doll? It's pretty clear that in the earliest days of Barbie, there were some tensions in that male toy buyers really thought that the doll's body was inappropriate, and yet Mattel was looking to present a doll that wasn't that stereotypical baby doll. But as the feminist movement grew and as civil rights concerns continued through the first couple decades of Barbie's existence, there were very serious sustained critiques about the narrow representation of beauty in that brand. Right. I mean, so then let's fast forward, right? As recently as 2023, right before the Barbie movie came out, 69% of women asked that they think Barbies can lead to body image issues. What's the effect of a doll that looks like that being held by someone who looks like me have on public thinking? You know, there have been multiple studies conducted on the impact of these extremely thin dolls, including Barbie, on girls' self-image and even on how much they're willing to eat. And in the past, studies have indicated that there is a direct negative effect, that, you know, sometimes it's hard to tell what's correlation versus causation. But there have been some very cleverly designed experiments that showed girls, after engaging with Barbie-type figures, were actually eating less in the experimental setting than girls who had not. Wow. And so what does it do? Even, you know, even if there's no Barbie in the household, it's in the air, right? And I think a lot of women these days are waking up and, you know, realizing that I don't have to look like that. All, you know, all bodies are valuable and attractive. But that appears to be sort of a small segment of the public thinking when you look at who's on the billboards and who's starring in the movies, that sort of thing. Right. You know, Barbie didn't create issues with women and girls' body image issues. It actually recirculates them and continues the conversation. That's where I think that Mattel's recent moves are promising, right? They have changed the body types, the hair textures, the skin tones, the face molds. And now they're doing more with direct representation of certain types of medical conditions and so on that do help expand that Barbie universe in a way that perhaps for the youngest girls engaging with Barbie dolls, it's actually a better situation than it was in years past. So let's talk about those more modern Barbies, right? The dolls are made in the likeness of athletes, such as Christy Yamaguchi, Venus Williams. There's a type one diabetes Barbie. There's one that celebrates Diwali. There's the first black Barbie that represents Down syndrome. What do you make of this new era and do you think it goes far enough? Well, it's pretty clear, and I've written about this in some of my publications, that Mattel was really responding to market forces. Millennial moms in particular stopped buying Barbie. Barbie was really struggling as other brands, like earlier the Bratz dolls, had more diversity. Indie competitors with different body shapes and sizes were also gaining market share. So what I make of it is really that they were following the demands of the consumers who are the primary purchasers of Barbie dolls. That may not be all consumers, but those moms of young girls, they were pretty done with Barbie and they had to make these changes. So it was a dollars and cents decision. Let's talk specifically to those parents, like my mom, who are worn down by their children. Back in the 80s, my sister and I pleaded for Barbies. My mom said no. She eventually gave in. We got one each. Mine was the pink and pretty Barbie. But she said to us, this is not a child. This is a grown woman you're playing with. And so she was very careful and very smart and just sort of opening our eyes to what we held in our hands. How do parents sort of combat some of the perhaps unintentional messaging that can come with holding what's supposed to be the ideal figure in their hands? That's such a wonderful question because it's something that I've thought a lot about. I've written about it in my book, The Princess Problem. And really, parents, especially of those younger kids, do have a lot of power. Parental mediation of the media and pop culture and toys that children engage with does have an influence. So if, as a parent, like your mom, you're very thoughtful and you say, you know, I want you to understand that this is a product. It's not reality, right? Somebody had this idea and made it into a toy. That really does help children to understand our values as parents and to recognize that the world is much more diverse than what is marketed to us in consumer culture. Once again, mom got it right. I feel like we could talk for an hour on this. Our time is up, unfortunately. Thank you so much, Professor Rebecca Haynes from Salem State University. It's been a pleasure. Thank you.

The Senate approved a $9.4 billion rescissions request, sending it back to the House of Representatives for approval.

Washington

Senate approves spending cuts to foreign aid, public broadcasting

Israel has faced international condemnation over its three days of airstrikes in Syria. The European Union and the United Nations have called for a return to calm, while Iran has urged countries in the region to respond against Israel.

Damascus

Middle East Conflict

World reacts to Israeli attacks on Syria’s Damascus

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz makes his first state visit to the United Kingdom to sign a historic defence cooperation treaty—the first of its kind between Germany and Britain since the Second World War. The agreement includes plans for joint defence efforts, boosting economic collaboration, and tackling illegal migration.

London

Germany and UK seal historic defence pact

Donald Trump says American-made weapons bought by NATO are being shipped to Ukraine. Trump's also threatening sanctions, saying his aim is to force Putin to negotiate an end to the war. But with Ukraine under nightly attack, there’s scepticism over whether he'll achieve anything.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

U.S. ships NATO purchased Patriot missiles to Ukraine

Syria condemns Israel for fatal strikes on several government buildings in Damascus. The escalation threatens to disrupt new U.S.-brokered security talks between Israel and Syria, with both sides expressing concerns over stability in the region.

Israeli airstrikes on Syria threaten security talks

U.S. President Donald Trump is still dealing with fallout from his own supporters over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. CBS News Department of Justice reporter Jake Rosen has more.

Trump says Epstein conspiracy theory is hoax started by Democrats

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that she spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and that the two had agreed to strengthen trade collaboration, particularly in light of the tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump set to go in effect on August 1.

Mexico City

Global Tariffs

Mexico plans to strengthen trade with Canada

Former President Barack Obama joined his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, on her latest podcast episode with her brother Craig Robinson to address divorce rumors.

Obamas address divorce rumors on Michelle’s podcast

Israel struck Syrian military targets as well as central Damascus on Wednesday (July 16) as it continued its campaign to protect Druze minority communities in southern Syria.

Israel strikes Damascus as fighting rages in southern Syria

U.S. ambassador Mike Huckabee's appearance at Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial follows President Trump's call for Israel to throw out the case or pardon the Israeli prime minister.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

U.S. ambassador attends Netanyahu trial to show support from Trump

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would impose a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia under a new agreement with the Southeast Asian country and more deals were in the works as he continued to press for what he views as better terms with trading partners.

Trump eyes more trade deals soon as EU readies retaliation

At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday (July 16) at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in what the U.S.-backed group said was a crowd surge instigated by armed agitators. This video contains graphic images.

Jerusalem

Crush at Gaza aid site kills at least 20, GHF blames agitators

Police in Los Angeles have arrested a 22-year-old suspect in the double homicide of American Idol executive Robin Kaye and her husband, Thomas Deluca. The couple, both 70 years old, was found shot to death in their home earlier this week.

Encino

Police make arrest in murders of American Idol executive, husband

Streaming shows dominated nominations for the 2025 Emmy Awards. "Severance" earned the most series nominations with 27. Meanwhile, "The Studio" earned the most-ever nominations for a debut comedy series with 23.

Hollywood

'Severance' and 'The Studio' earn top Emmy nominations

The United Torah Judaism party has decided to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition over its failure to secure military service exemptions. Members of the ultra-orthodox community have been exempted from enlisting in the army since 1948.

Major cracks in Netanyahu coalition as ultra-Orthodox party quits

New information about the Jeffrey Epstein case may soon be made public after a reversal from U.S. President Donald Trump and weeks of criticism — the loudest of which has come from within the MAGA movement.

Epstein files may be released after Trump reversal

Russia's Vladimir Putin has rejected President Trump's ultimatum for Moscow to sign a ceasefire deal with Ukraine in the next 50 days. Trump has threatened to issue a 100% tariff on any country that does business with Russia if no ceasefire deal is reached.

Moscow

Russia rejects Trump's ultimatum for ceasefire in Ukraine

Fighting has erupted in the southern Syrian city of As Suwayda just six hours after a ceasefire was announced. Earlier on Tuesday, Syrian government forces withdrew heavy vehicles from the city, hoping to ease tensions.

As Suwayda

Fighting erupts in Syria’s As Suwayda hours after ceasefire deal

Two laptops and hard drives containing watermarked and unreleased music by Beyoncé were stolen from her choreographer’s rental car in Atlanta, according to police.

Atlanta

Unreleased Beyoncé music stolen from choreographer’s rental car

The House Committee on Education and Workforce is holding its ninth hearing in 18 months on antisemitism on college campuses. CBS News' Shanelle Kaul has more details.

Anger at House committee hearing on antisemitism in college campuses

An Air India Boeing airplane crashed in northwestern India in June, killing all people on board but one passenger. India's aviation regulator has now ordered airlines to examine fuel control switches on several Boeing models.

New Delhi

India orders airlines to inspect Boeing airplane models after crash

Controversy on Capitol Hill over the so-called Epstein Files is seemingly not going away anytime soon.

House Republicans block Democratic push to release Epstein documents

An Israeli scheme to move hundreds of thousands of already uprooted Palestinians to a so-called "humanitarian city" in Gaza has led politicians to spar with the defense establishment. Critics inside and outside Israel have denounced the proposal.

Critics slam Israeli scheme to move Gazans to 'humanitarian city'

At least two people were killed in a New Jersey flash flooding event, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday morning as heavy rains are expected to continue battering the Northeast. CBS News' Rob Marciano has more details.

New Jersey

Two killed in New Jersey flash flooding

After over a week of negotiations in Doha, a truce in Gaza remains elusive, despite intensified efforts by mediators. The stalemate continues as both Hamas and Israel trade blame over ongoing strikes.

Doha

Gaza truce still out of reach after Doha talks

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump's administration to resume dismantling the Department of Education, part of his bid to shrink the federal government's role in education in favor of more control by the states.

U.S. Supreme Court clears way for Trump to gut Education Department

Syria's government troops entered the Sweida region following deadly clashes on Tuesday, while Israel carried out strikes against them, saying it was acting to protect the Druze minority.

Syrian forces enter Sweida city following deadly clashes

Heavy rains slammed the Northeast and caused flash floods in the New York City subway system. CBS News' Rob Marciano has the latest.

New York

Flash flooding pummels NYC and slams subway lines

US President Donald Trump told Russia to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions, as he laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO. "We're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent," Trump said.

Trump gives Moscow 50-day ultimatum over Ukraine war

A Gaza-bound boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid left Sicily, over a month after Israel detained and deported people aboard a previous vessel.

Breakdown