allison jenna

It’s been half a century since Barbie was introduced to the world. Since then, we’ve seen a rash of dolls aiming to “keep up with the times”, and I must admit that Mattel has done an incredible job of guaranteeing Barbie as every little girls best friend.

Now they’ve released Totally Stylin’ Tattoo Barbie, a doll that has moms everywhere crapping their pants. Not only does Tattoo Barbie come with a multitude of small girly tats your child can choose the placement for, it even comes with a tattoo gun so your child can tattoo themselves! Fear not, the “tattoo gun” is less fearful than a bedazzler and looks to be a stamp with a handle.

Apparently the doll is selling well, and despite the controversy, Mattel has no plans to discontinue her, saying that it gives little girls the chance to express themselves.

As a girl with tattoos, I think it’s nice that Mattel is choosing to back a positive image of women with ink. Some of the comments I’ve seen on websites come from mothers calling her “Skank Barbie” and talking about how trashy it is. The funniest thing about that to me is that most of the compliments I get on my tattoos are from 30-to-40 year old women with kids about the age who play with Barbies.

One piece of advice to parents worried that Tattoo Barbie will make their little girl a tatted-up tramp the second she turns 18:

Make sure your daughter gets into cooler stuff than the tattoos you see on Tattoo Barbie here. I know that it sounds great to have the cheerleader, 4.0 GPA, popular girl as your daughter, but keep in mind… those are the girls that get the tribal butterfly tramp stamps.