You know you’ve reached peak 2020 when even our humble childhood friend Barbie wants to try her hand at being a Instagram famous wellness influencer.
Barbie’s parent company Mattel has just announced a ‘Barbie Wellness Collection,’ which according to Cosmo, “will introduce girls to the benefits of self-care through play.”
“The collection teaches girls daily routines that promote emotional well-being and includes three key themes: meditation, physical well-being, and self-care; because Barbie knows to be one’s best is to give yourself the best care.”
In recent years, Mattel has made a conscious effort to make their Barbie collections more diverse and inclusive. Now, kids can play with Barbies that are in wheelchairs, have vitiligo, alopecia, prosthetic limbs, aren’t a size zero and work in a range of professions. Clearly, promoting a healthy mind and body via Barbie is just another step in the right direction.
There’s no denying that ‘self-care’ is having a moment right now, but the ‘wellness influencer’ vibes of the new Barbie is reflective of a much more harmful social media movement.
Speaking of dodgy influencer behaviour, listen to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goopy antics on It’s Been A Big Day For… below:
Since Instagram and Facebook became the centre of our digital universe, self-appointed ‘wellness influencers’ with little to no actual credentials in health or science have been popping up all over social media. These influencers make a living off brazen claims and dole out unsolicited health and wellness advice to their thousands of followers, without any real evidence or understanding of the consequences.
The perfect example of this is the story of Belle Gibson, the famous wellness guru and author of The Whole Pantry who falsely claimed to have cured a variety of her personal cancers through dietary changes, natural remedies and alternative medicine.
Through The Whole Pantry and various social media posts, Gibson promoted controversial and potentially dangerous alternative medical practices including Gerson therapy, anti-vaccination and unpasteurised raw milk.
In 2015, it came out that not only did Gibson fabricate her stories of cancer, but had lied about her age, personal life and history. She also claimed to have donated the proceeds from sales of The Whole Pantry app to various charities, but the organisation she listed never saw a dime.
As long as ‘wellness’ Barbie keeps encouraging girls to take care of their mental and physical health and not spruik the ‘health benefits’ of coconut oil, vaginal steaming, or a diet of only purple-coloured foods, I’m on board.
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