Barbie’s Inspiring Women line includes Eleanor Roosevelt and Maya Angelou dolls
- March 7, 2018 |Last updated on 03/05/2021
Ever since Mattel debuted its Inspiring Women line of Barbies in April 2018, the company has been steadily adding real-life role models to the impressive collection. Today, more than 60 dolls have debuted in the series, each modeled from a powerful woman from history or the modern day.
The latest inspirational figure to join the sisterhood is former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Roosevelt is widely regarded as one of the most influential women in world affairs during the early part of the 1900s, serving as an advocate for human rights and a champion of voting rights and economic fairness while her husband, Franklin Roosevelt, was in the White House.
The new doll depicts her in a floral-print dress and a sharp black hat, with a signature string of pearls around her neck.
The Eleanor Roosevelt Barbie goes on sale March 22 and can be pre-ordered for $29.99 from Mattel’s website.
While you’re waiting for that doll to drop, you can browse the dozens of others that are already part of the company’s Inspiring Women line. The charter class of historic women included legendary pilot Amelia Earhart, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson.
Since then, beloved heroes like singer Ella Fitzgerald, poet Maya Angelou, astronaut Sally Ride and nurse Florence Nightengale have been added to the collection, all selling for around $30 apiece. But Mattel hasn’t just been honoring historical figures with the line, with the company also modeling new dolls after dozens of modern-day women.
The Barbie Sheros line, which is included under the Inspiring Women umbrella, has paid tribute to everyone from environmentalist Bindi Irwin and Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim to actor Yara Shahidi and soccer star Alex Morgan. The line has honored real-life women in fields ranging from journalism to business to sports and the arts.
What women from history would you like to see represented in the line in the future?