August 13, 2025
The doll’s outfit calls again to the primary second of gender pay fairness in skilled tennis.
Barbie has at all times impressed younger women and girls to be who they need to be. The newest doll honors a sports activities legend who has performed the identical.
Venus Williams has obtained the most recent doll in Barbie’s Inspiring Ladies Collection.
For the popularity, Mattel inspired Williams to decide on any outfit for her doll’s likeness. The choice symbolized greater than her legacy as a tennis legend, however represents her shared mission with Barbie for gender pay fairness.
The seven-time Grand Slam singles winner opted to immortalize her win on the 2007 Wimbledon match. Whereas the all-white outfit doesn’t seize quick consideration, the importance of the occasion does. It was the primary time that the ladies’s and males’s singles champions earned equal prize cash.
“Wimbledon 2007 was an enormous second in my profession—not simply because I received, however due to what was taking place off the court docket,” Williams advised USA In the present day Sports activities forward of her Barbie’s Aug. 15 launch. “Championing for equal prize cash wasn’t nearly me; it was about pushing for change for all ladies in sports activities. To see that second honored with a Barbie doll is extremely particular. I hope it conjures up younger ladies to talk up, imagine in themselves, and know they’ve the ability to vary the sport too.”
Williams was an integral voice and advocate for pay fairness in skilled tennis. She met with officers for Wimbledon and the French Open to debate modifications to the unfair pay scale. After they refused to satisfy her calls for, she wrote an article claiming Wimbledon checked out her and fellow feminine winners as “second-class” champions.
Her unwavering struggle pushed the match to pay up for its ladies winners. Her 2007 Wimbledon triumph match made her victory much more particular.
Williams has additionally been a longtime fan of dolls. She usually performed with toys as a toddler to precise her creativity when she wasn’t on the tennis court docket. She referred to as the revealing of her personal Barbie a “full-circle second” for the sports activities star.
“I’ve at all times beloved being inventive, at the same time as a child, I used to stitch garments for my dolls,” recalled Williams. “Seeing (my) completed doll was so surreal—it made me notice this doll represents one thing a lot larger. It’s about inspiring younger ladies they dream huge and break boundaries, too.”
The doll reimagines Williams’ all-white set and footwear from Reebok. The doll additionally consists of her equipment from her successful match towards France’s Marion Bartoli within the Wimbledon closing, similar to her inexperienced gem necklace, earrings, wristband, and visor.
“My recommendation to any girl, not simply advocating for equal pay but additionally advocating for themselves, is that this: at all times guess on your self and maintain pushing, regardless of how powerful it will get,” added Williams. “There’s a lot energy in believing in your self. While you use your voice, you create area for others to talk up, too, and that may create actual change.”
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