AI-generated photos of Barbie from every country across the world have gone viral on social media and people aren’t happy with their cultural stereotypes and inaccuracies.
The images come following AI pictures of the Barbie DreamHouse in every American state which captivated people on TikTok. However, these haven’t gone down quite so well…
AI photos of Barbie by country go viral
BuzzFeed used an artificial intelligence photo generator to create a Barbie doll from each country around the world. It goes alphabetically, beginning with a Mattel doll from Afghanistan who is wearing a hijab and beaded earrings.
The dolls are all seen with stereotypical attributes relating to that country, such as clothes, hair colour and jewellery. Many also depict scenery from that region in the background.
For example, the Barbie from Bangladesh has long wavy dark hair and is wearing a pink floral sari, while the United Kingdom Barbie sports a historic royal gown and is surrounded by Union Jack flags.
There are 194 different ones in total, from Italy to Zambia, United Arab Emirates to Thailand. However, many think the depictions are problematic.
Some of the depictions have had great reactions, with one person writing on Twitter “Ghana Barbie eatsssss” and another adding “We love herrr!!!” about Oman.
However, others aren’t impressed with the inaccuracies, claiming many don’t represent someone from that country at all.
One person wrote “why are the Latinas all blondies with tanned skin?” in response to the Colombia, Mexico and Brazil Barbies.
“Ancient Egyptians were not black. Do your homework next time,” said another. The Egypt doll has dark skin and is wearing a gold metal headpiece and neck plate.
The Turkey Barbie has pink hair, and someone argued: “As a Turk, I have never seen anyone with that hairstyle and colour EVER.”
“This is men’s attire, at least do your research,” another wrote about Kuwait who is wearing a traditional headcloth held in place with a black cord.
Some of the Barbies have abnormalities
Others are commenting on the fact that some of the Barbies have abnormal deformities. The Italy doll has three hands!
Someone said: “From Italy, I’ve never seen anyone with three hands.”
“The iconic third arm,” another joked after noticing the Cuba doll has three arms.
Someone else added: “Philippines… are we missing an arm??”
Georgia’s doll also wrongly depicts a Barbie from the American state not the country on the Europe and Asia intersection.
