A few days ago, Mattel, the toy brand, released a new line of Barbie Dolls that completely revamps the original worldwide conception of the traditional Barbie. Instead of the typical, slender-figured Barbie that most of us are accustomed to, Mattel will also be releasing new, improved, Barbies that come with a wide variety of new hairstyles and colors. On top of these new features, the new Barbie dolls will also come in three new sizes - curvy, petite, and tall.

Mattel has rightfully been gaining praise worldwide for this new addition to the traditional toy line and I could not agree more. Growing up, I was active through being involved in many sports and I spent a good portion of my time playing with my friends outside; however, I was never "thin." When I was at the pre-teen age where everyone went to the mall and tried on dresses with their friends, I ended up with the pre-teen plus cheetah print monstrosities because nothing was available in my size. Generally, I was a happy kid, but I never had anything in social media, toys or magazines to identify with.

From Barbie to American Girl to My Scene to Polly Pocket and beyond, I never had anything that I could identify with. Being completely honest, the closest doll that ever came to what I looked like growing up was a cabbage patch kid - definitely not what I wanted to be compared to. Although I was only subject to ridicule a few times in elementary school, those few times leave girls like myself searching for answers as to why mainstream media wouldn't portray more than one generalized figure.

Although brands like Aerie, from American Eagle, produced campaigns supporting what they deem "real" bodies wearing their clothing targeted at young girls and young adults, along with a few other brands, the fact that such a worldwide toy, like Barbie, is being released in all these new categories is extremely important. Young girls (and boys) are introduced to the Barbie brand at a very young age. As Barbies are such a large part of childhood in the United States, they can help shape children's self-opinions quite easily. Since Barbies are now available in curvy, tall and petite as well as original, it helps convey that all body types are beautiful. No matter how often social media begins to convey this idea, Barbies including this new line can be seen as an integral part of the body positivity movement.

I couldn't be happier knowing that things are changing. From how society is treating people of all sizes to how the toy world and social media is evolving, the positive change that is occurring is monumental to the future and we need to keep this momentum going because one step at a time we can make the necessary change.