We don’t often feel like we have a lot in common with Barbie.
But this American granny’s special lockdown Barbies might just change that.
56-year-old Tonya Ruiz recently created a Quarantine Barbie – and she nails the reality we have all been living lately. You know – the not knowing what flipping day of the week it is, not having washed our hair in God knows how long and struggle to remember the last time we had actual pants on.
I mean – just take a look:
Ruiz’ Barbie is now going viral on Instagram, where thousands of people can’t get enough of the very hilarious doll, which looks so ready for 2020 to be over already.
Quarantine Barbie, of course, comes with snacks (guilty!), Netflix on the laptop (hello – ME!) and a calendar to keep track of things, but let’s be real — she’s still perpetually thinking it’s Friday when it’s really Monday. (Also – SO me!)
Probably because she has lost her mind trying to homeschool her kids, break up sibling fights, wipe down her groceries, and yell at her parents to social distance. In short, Quarantine Barbie is all of us. Which is probably why she’s resonating so deeply with people across Instagram.
Inspired by her granddaughters
Ruiz, who lives in Orange County, California, is actually a photographer, who has been making pint-size recreations of toys, food, and other nostalgic items for years already, but as she admitted to Good Morning America, the Barbies are a new project – inspired, actually by her own granddaughters.
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Explaining how she used to give speeches years ago on positive body image, Ruiz said she would regularly use Barbies to explain unrealistic beauty standards to young girls. But after she retired, all of those Barbies started stacking up in her attic — until her granddaughters discovered them years later.
Not wanting them to play with dolls that perpetuated those same beauty standards she railed against, Ruiz brought the girls to the toy store to choose from Mattel’s newer collection of realistic-looking Barbies.
“I wanted to show my granddaughters that Barbies are not just about the shoes,” Ruiz told GMA. “It’s more about real life and family and realistic things.”
And so, when the pandemic hit, a new idea came to the creative granny, and these very relatable Barbies were born.
Unfortunately for us though, the dolls are one-of-a-kind, and not for sale.
But c’mon, how amazing are they?
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