Barbie comes of age and celebrates with feminine hygiene products called ‘period party’

BARBIE has long been available with accessories including handbags, heels and sunnies but now she comes with her period as well.

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BARBIE has long been available with accessories including handbags, heels and sunnies but now she comes with her period as well.

Lammily — otherwise known as “Normal barbie”- made waves when she hit the market last year.

And now her creator, Russia-born, American Nickolay Lamm has released a “Period Party” accessory kit for the barbies, available for $10USD worldwide — including Australia — at lammily.com.

The kit includes “one educational pamphlet, one pair of panties to fit Lammily doll, 18 reusable coloured pads and liners stickers and one calendar with dot stickers”.

Mr Lamm worked closely with his mother, Yelena, to design the pads.

Mr Lamm told news.com.au that the purpose of the doll was to educate young girls about menstruation.

“Menstruation is still a taboo in our society,” Mr Lamm said. “More than that — sometimes it’s still used as an insult.

“I just don’t think that something as core to a women’s life and health as menstruation should be seen as embarrassing in any way, shape, or form.

“If it weren’t for menstruation, I wouldn’t even be alive right now! So why not celebrate it, why not make it as accepted as any other bodily function?”

Mr Lamm said “parents were (often) wary of approaching the subject”.

“I’ve read horror stories of kids thinking that they were dying during their first period,” he told news.com.au.

“So I feel Lammily’s ‘Period Party’ can introduce kids to menstruation in a very fun and disarming way, and give parents a very useful tool.

“What can be more disarming than a doll having menstruation?

“I’m sure that some people will think that this is a strange product, some may disapprove, and some people may even think that this is ‘making fun’ of menstruation.

“But I feel there’s a very big difference between making fun of something and making something fun, especially if we are talking about a very important topic, which may be difficult to approach, for many kids and parents alike.”

Parenting expert and Early Life Foundations director Kathy Walker said she wasn’t “anti the concept” of ‘period barbie’ but she questioned its appropriateness for young children.

“Children will use their play at the stage of life they’re at and act out what their immediate experience is,” Ms Walker said.

“So when they’re three, four, six and eight, they’re immediate experience of life isn’t menstruating or to be pre-pubescent or thinking about puberty.

“I wonder why one might think it necessary to play and experience a part of life they’re not yet in or projecting an experience they may not conceptually understand at that point.

“If (the manufacturers) are pitching to older children, they’re unlikely to be really imaginative playing with dolls anyway.

“On one level, there may be no harm because it is a natural part of life that shouldn’t be a secret or considered something to be ashamed of.

“There’s nothing fundamentally bad about it, I’m just not sure whether it’s necessary to purchase something like that for little kids who just want to play and have lots of fun and imagine life from their perspective at that age.”

This is the ad for Lammily’s pad accessories on YouTube.