Frida Kahlo’s distant relatives won a temporary court ban on sales of Frida Kahlo Barbie dolls in Mexico.
Source: AP/The Guardian
Mara de Anda Romeo, Frida Kahlo’s great-niece, argued in a Mexican court that Mattel, a manufacturer of Barbie dolls, does not have the rights to produce dolls looking like Frida Kahlo or bearing her name. She insists the artist’s family has the rights to her image, the Guardian reports.
The official account of the family, @FridaKahlo, published the court’s ruling that orders the toymaker and shops to stop commercialising the brand of Frida Kahlo until the rights dispute is settled.
Mattel says the company worked in partnership with the Panama-based Frida Kahlo Corporation which it claims has the rights to use the artist’s image.
Critics say the Frida Kahlo Barbie doll does not reflect the artist’s nearly conjoined eyebrows and its costume does not accurately represent her clothes. The corporation is often accused of promoting unrealistic body image and consumerist lifestyle, which doesn’t comply with the artist’s communist ideals.
Mattel released the Inspiring Women series of 17 dolls portraying successful women in various fields ahead of International Women’s Day. Together with other collections of dolls of different height, skin tones and body types, this series is the corporation’s attempt to adapt to new standards of representing women and men and reflect the current understanding of gender roles in society.
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