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When<\/span> I<\/span> was<\/span> diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in my late 20s, one of my friends lovingly referred to me as <\/span>Diabetes Barbie<\/span><\/em> to make me feel better about my new reality. <\/span>The nickname made my condition a part of my overall identity \u2014 a young, perky, professional \u2014 rather than an illness that would negatively define me. So recently, when <\/span>Mattel dropped a real Diabetes Barbie<\/span>, it felt like a long overdue signal of inclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n Diabetes Barbie is an unexpected tool for visibility. <\/span>She wears an<\/span> insulin pump, continuous glucose monitor (CGM), along with kicky little diabetes-friendly accessories like a pastel blue purse \u2014 all of which are relatable to those of us who know how much extra stuff you have to carry around when living with this condition. The doll is validating both for children newly diagnosed or people like me who didn\u2019t have this kind of representation during formative years. <\/span><\/p>\n Type 1 diabetes <\/span>impacts over 2 million people<\/span> in the U.S. The auto-immune condition is often conflated or overlooked due to the much larger number \u2014 40 million people \u2014 who have Type 2 diabetes. <\/span>The difference between the two is explained in this <\/span>video from Stanford<\/span>: Type 2 diabetics deal with insulin resistance, which means that their bodies make insulin, but their bodies don\u2019t react to it well; these individuals tend to be older and can usually get the condition in control with diet and other lifestyle changes. <\/span><\/p>\n Type 1 is an autoimmune condition where one\u2019s pancreas is unable to produce insulin. It tends to happen to younger people and it can\u2019t be prevented, so it requires intervention (which is why it can feel jarring and isolating to the young people it happens to). It\u2019s also <\/span>much rarer<\/span>.<\/p>\n Seeing a doll that specifically represents this subsegment can spark conversations between children and parents, peers, and even teachers about what diabetes management entails. Often these conversations are the difference between feeling seen and suffering in silence and isolation.<\/span><\/p>\n My own endocrinologist explained that if not properly managed, (both types of) diabetes can lead to blindness, circulation issues and heart problems. Beyond the terrifying aspects of living with this disease, the social stigma is continually frustrating. I\u2019ve had more than one woman ask me in a locker room while changing, \u201cWhat<\/span> is that <\/span><\/em>on your belly?\u201d referring to my CGM. I\u2019ve also weathered judgmental looks after whipping out insulin pens during business dinners. <\/span><\/p>\n In 2022, I was forced to go without Ozempic for four months, which I used to reduce my daily insulin load, because the many non-diabetics became obsessed with my medicine \u2014 leading to <\/span>a global shortage<\/span> that only just ended. <\/span><\/p>\n I also feel resentful when I see new, sleek glucose monitors \u2014 especially worn by people who use them to <\/span>monitor their diet and physical activity<\/span> for reasons other than diabetes. I spent years wearing clunky devices because I had to. Now manufacturers have slowly rolled out more sophisticated offerings \u2014 slimmer, more lightweight, leaving less scar tissue.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy friends ask me a lot of questions about all this stuff I have to wear,\u201d says Avery, 11, a Type 1 diabetic who lives in Illinois. Avery tells me that she actually likes when her friends ask about why she carries so many different fanny packs with medical supplies, or whether or not the needle hurts. For many kids with chronic conditions, the visibility of medical gear can invite unwanted attention or isolation \u2014 but Avery sees curiosity as connection. \u201cIt makes me feel seen,\u201d she says. \u201cI think it\u2019s really cool that if my friends saw this Barbie they could relate to me more.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Among her role models is a high school student with Type 1 in the neighborhood. \u201cI like to see other people wearing the monitors and pumps too, because I feel less alone,\u201d Avery says. As I listened to her diagnosis story, including the part about spending four nights in the hospital, I gained a deeper understanding of how profoundly it reshaped life for her entire family. Mother and daughter spoke like a pair of girl-power warriors, sharing stories of educating the school nurse and managing blood sugar dips during cheer practice. <\/span><\/p>\n Wanting to reclaim a sense of joy and ownership in a daily routine shaped by chronic illness, Avery took a creative leap. She and her mom saved a year\u2019s supply of Avery\u2019s <\/span>Omnipod<\/span><\/em> insulin pump covers and hand-decorated them with some of her favorite themes \u2014 a horse, a cupcake, the Chicago Cubs, flowers, a rainbow \u2014 and turned them into magnets to give to her friends. I imagine transforming cumbersome medical devices into pieces of personal flair could offer young people with Type 1 a renewed sense of agency over their circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n As we continued to chat on video, I noticed that her mom was wearing a CGM made available for non-diabetic patients. \u201cMy mom is going to wear it all summer!\u201d Avery says excitedly. It took my breath away. I had been harboring judgmental energy for all the CGM wearers who didn\u2019t need them to manage their own diabetes while this mom sat solemnly in solidarity with her daughter. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNow there\u2019s two of us in our family who are wearing it,\u201d Avery explains. She said she wanted her dad to wear one too, but she knew her little brother would be hesitant since he\u2019s scared of needles. Humbled, I held back tears in awe of this brave little girl who reminded me of the importance of continued empathy, especially when we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on inside someone else\u2019s body, or in this case, in their family. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBarbie helps shape children\u2019s early perceptions of the world, and by reflecting medical conditions like T1D, we ensure more kids can see themselves in the stories they imagine and the dolls they love,\u201d said Krista Berger, Senior Vice President of Barbie and Global Head of Dolls at <\/span>Mattel<\/span>. A spokesperson for Mattel told me that they want to encourage doll play outside of a child\u2019s own lived experience, and teach understanding and a greater sense of inclusion and empathy, pillars of Barbie\u2019s mission.<\/span><\/p>\n 20 Years Of<\/span>Free<\/span>Journalism<\/span><\/p>\n Your Support Fuels Our Mission<\/p>\n Your Support Fuels Our Mission<\/p>\n For two decades, HuffPost has been fearless, unflinching, and relentless in pursuit of the truth. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 \u2014 we can’t do this without you.<\/p>\n We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.<\/p>\n We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.<\/p>\n Thank you again for your support along the way. We\u2019re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.<\/p>\n Support HuffPost<\/p>\n Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.<\/p>\n I continue to identify as <\/span>Diabetes Barbie<\/span><\/em>, the lighthearted nickname my friend gave me to lighten the load of my scary diagnosis many years ago. The new toy version of <\/span>Diabetes Barbie<\/span><\/em> then reminded me to save my judgment, no matter the circumstance, and live in union with those like Avery, putting a spotlight on wholehearted inclusion. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in my late 20s, one of my friends lovingly referred to me as Diabetes Barbie to make me feel better about my new reality. The nickname made my condition a part of my overall identity \u2014 a young, perky, professional \u2014 rather than an illness that would<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[6864,2193,3483,5508,652],"class_list":{"0":"post-13166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-barbie","9":"tag-diabetes","10":"tag-long","11":"tag-mattels","12":"tag-overdue"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}