Okay, yes. I admit it. I'm a twenty-something and I am absolutely obsessed with a Disney Channel star: Zendaya Coleman. I love Zendaya. Always have. Not only is she a singer, dancer, actress, and producer at the tender age of 19, but she is also a fashion icon, philanthropist, and bully annihilator. She is a standout role model of our generation and continues to spread positivity anyway she can.
Recently, she made history when Mattle honored Zendaya with her own limited edition Barbie doll. This masterpiece comes months after widely controversial comments were made by TV Personality, Giuliana Rancic. She made an offensive comment about the Disney darling's decision to wear her hair in faux locks at the 2015 Oscars. During a subsequent episode of Fashion Police, while discussing the singer’s hair choice, Rancic was quoted saying Zendaya looks like she “smells like patchouli oil…or weed”. Being the intelligent, strong, Black woman that she is Zendaya quickly took to social media to let Giuliana and everyone else at Fashion Police that her comments were not ignored and unacceptable. “There is already harsh critism of African - American hair in society without the help of ignorant people who choose to judge others based on the curl of their hair. My wearing my hair in locs on an Oscar red carpet was to showcase them in a positive light, to remind people of color that our hair is good enough.”
Barbie has since praised Zendaya for speaking out against these hurtful comments. They announced that they were honoring Zendaya with a one-of-a-kind doll that is supposed to be encouragement for girls to continue to “Raise Their Voice”. The doll is here. This Zendaya doll features the bi-racial beauty in her faux locs and the Vivienne Westwood dress she wore to the Oscars. This is a big step for women on color for two major reasons.
1. Even though it is the year 2015 it is still scare to find a colored doll on the shelves and the ones you do find is a knockoff…. definitely not a Barbie! With the exception of Queen Elsa, my aunt only buys my younger cousin dolls that look like her. She has expressed that it’s important that her black child sees herself as beautiful and desirable, so that shell want to reach for the doll with the darker skin, and kinkier hair. This is precisely what Zendaya did on the Oscar red carpet.
2. Although, the locs were artificial and are not Zendya’s actual hair texture it is still encouraging to see a doll of color that has her natural hair. Locs are a popular style across races, but have a strong tie to the African American race. With the #NaturalHair movement progressing in past years many Black women have put their straightener down, chopped off the chemicals The few Black dolls that you can find re not true to the average black person’s features. There lips aren’t as full and their hair isn’t as curly. There is a wide difference between hair textures and it’s no secret that Black women have been struggling with the perception of their hair for decades. Why have a Black doll that doesn’t look like the average Black person? This isn’t top say that all Black dolls need to have locs, or braids or Afro’s, but it is significant to the representation of beauty on young women. Girls aren’t going to want to embrace their true selves if it isn’t what they are seeing on the shelves. Zendaya made it clear that young girls of color deserve to be represented as well. “When I was little I couldn’t find a Barbie that looked like me…Thank you @Barbie for this honor and for allowing me to be apart of your diversification and expansion of the definition of beauty”.
I've definitely researched to find out when this doll is going on sale, so I could get it for myself! But, this Barbie doll is limited edition, so it will not be available to the public. Regardless, this is still a huge step in the right direction. Zendaya continues to be a positive advocate for all girls--regardless of their age--to recognize their true beauty both inside and out.
