Nowadays, body image is a big topic in social media. Plus size models are making headlines as well as a young models with Down Syndrome. We’re making history and showing the world that it doesn’t matter your weight, height, race or whether you have a disability. You are a perfectly imperfect package made up of the beautiful human being that you are.
With dolls like Barbie on the market, they can give the misinterpretation of beauty. These dolls give young girls the idea that if they don’t look like them, then they are not beautiful. That, because they aren’t a size two, are of a different ethnicity or have some kind of disability, they aren’t perfect just the way they are. Every little girl deserves to have a doll that she can relate to—that represents her. The supply of dolls that represent different ethnicities, sizes or disabilities is lacking. In a world where society depicts what we should see as beauty, we need to raise our girls to be strong, independent young women that are confident in who they are and the way they look. Just because society thinks they know what beauty is, doesn’t mean that they’re right.
Just the other day, I came across a video that has recently gone viral. It’s a story about a little girl born with a birth defect that has had to wear a prosthetic leg for most of her life. Being a lover of the American Girl dolls, she always wished for a doll that looked like her.
As a surprise, her parents sent one of her dolls out to a company called, A Step Ahead Prosthetics. This amazing company that makes prosthetics for amputees also makes after-market alterations to dolls for little girls. Now, little girls with disabilities can have a doll that looks like them, too.
To some people, this may seem insignificant, but to this little girl it means everything. Young girls and young women struggle every day with body image. What this company is doing takes society’s idea of beauty and throws it out the window. Think about the impact these dolls would have on our society as a whole if more companies made them. They could change our society’s mindset on what beauty is. The dolls could also become a new way of teaching our youth about acceptance and awareness of those that are 'different' from themselves.
If you do nothing else today, you must watch the video!
