Russia’s Only Female Cosmonaut Anna Kikina Inspires The New Range Of Barbie Dolls
The thing about playing with toys as kids is that they tend to leave an ever lasting impact on one’s life. Considering how society’s way of handling toys is to give the cars to the boys and kitchen sets and barbie dolls to girls, it’s always furthers gender stereotypes. It is because of this that when the children grow up, they feel more inclined to the same activities as they were engaged in as kids. And while this way of typecasting toys for girls and boys has been prevalent for decades, things have changed now, and for the better.
We say this after we’ve witnessed the change in the kind of toys, especially barbies that are made available for little kids to play with. Earlier only limited to versions of home-makers, or glam-dolls, Barbie now has dolls based on real life inspiring women. And the one they’ve recently honored with their new collection is Anna Kikina, Russia’s only female cosmonaut.
Set to be flying off to the International Space Station in 2022, Anna Kikina is an inspiration, as she becomes the fourth woman to travel into space after Valentina Tereshkova, who was the first spacewoman. Launched on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Soviet launch of the first time a man flew into space, the barbie cosmonaut is part of a campaign called ‘You can be whoever you want’.
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👩🚀 Los creadores de #Barbie lanzaron una nueva edición de la muñeca a semejanza de la única cosmonauta femenina activa de #Rusia, Anna Kikina. En vísperas del 6⃣0⃣ aniversario de vuelo de Yuri #Gagarin, recordamos que cualquier sueño puede hacerse realidad#Gagarin60 #Vamos60 pic.twitter.com/9u4oAunNO6
— Embajada de Rusia en México (@EmbRusiaMexico) March 22, 2021
The dolls that are being produced are a testament to the Russian Cosmonaut’s “talents, successes and personal qualities,” and come in two versions of costumes: a blue training suit and a white Orlan-type space suit. They have the image of Kikina on them, along with her name tag and the official logo of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.
Roscosmos made a statement about this wonderful gesture, as it said, “Who said that conquering the vastness of the Universe is not a woman’s business? This year marks 60 years since the day when man first flew into space.” It further stated, “Today, Anna is a role model for many: she is both strong and feminine, bold and gentle, wise and with an excellent sense of humour — a bright personality in which professionalism and warmth are harmoniously combined.”
Barbie también será una cosmonauta rusa: inspirada en Anna Kikina
La única cosmonauta femenina activa de Rusia ha inspirado la última muñeca astronauta Barbie de la campaña de Mattel para inspirar a las mujeres.
Conoce más de este #TemaEnTendencia 📲 pic.twitter.com/WZQEr2HnE4
— HispanoPost (@hispanopost) March 21, 2021
Meanwhile, the honored cosmonaut Anna Kikina spoke about the campaign and said, “As a child, I had no dream of becoming an astronaut. But if I had a Barbie astronaut doll, then the idea of becoming an astronaut would probably have risen in my head even then.”
She added, “It is not necessary that every girl playing with such a Barbie wants to become an astronaut. The most important thing is that they all know that they have a choice, they have the right to choose any profession that they like.” Touché, sister! After all, women need to know they can achieve anything they set their minds to!