Amid the hoopla surrounding the launch of the feature film “Barbie,” an activist in northern Mexico has created a “Barbie Buscadora” (Barbie Searcher), replicating the mothers and relatives of missing persons who focus on locating clandestine graves and mass burial sites across Mexico.
Delia Quiroa, a member of a collective in Tamaulipas, posted the image of her doll on social media, which subsequently went viral. The doll is wearing a blouse with a photo of her brother Roberto, who disappeared in 2014, as well as a cape over her head to prevent sunburn, cargo pants and boots.
Quiroa hopes that Matell, the manufacturers of the Barbie doll, will pick up the idea and make its own version, earmarking a percentage of the profits to their cause.
Not everyone approves of the doll, however. The Jalisco Luz de Esperanza collective told El Diario newspaper that selling a Barbie Searcher would send the wrong message, since it could be seen as normalizing violence and forced disappearances.