When I was a little girl, I liked my dolls, but I didn’t love them.
I often received Barbies as presents, and although I enjoyed playing and taking them on adventures, I couldn’t relate with them. I just couldn’t see myself in Barbie — like these little girls who didn't feel represented by their favorite toys.
But, for some reason, adults kept on giving me Barbies, and after a while I started to get confused. Was I supposed to look and be like Barbie?
As an adult, I can see I wasn’t alone in my bewilderment. Wendy Tsao, an artist who makes plush toys based on children’s drawings, is currently taking the concept of dolls to a whole new level — and the results are stunning.
Instead of encouraging little girls to idolize highly made-up dolls in very mature clothing, Wendy is reminding girls of the many real-life heroines they should look up to.
Inspired by the Tree Change Dolls movement, Wendy is hoping little girls around the world will finally feel comfortable being themselves.
What do you think of her doll transformations? Let us know in the comments below!
Looking to make a change, Wendy remakes Bratz dolls into toys that resemble heroic women whom little girls can look up to — like J.K. Rowling, best known for writing the highly successful Harry Potter series.
She has also made a doll that looks like Jane Goodall, the British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. She is also considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees.
Malala Yousafzai is another one of her dolls. Malala is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.
Waris Dirie, another inspiration for Wendy’s doll collection, is a Somali model, author, actress, and social activist. From 1997 to 2003, she served as a UN Special Ambassador.
Roberta Bondar is Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space. She is what many girls should aspire to be like.
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who is best known for her self-portraits. She was a woman who lived life on her own terms and always marched to the beat of her own drum.
Do you have a heroine — famous or personal — that you’d like to see immortalized in a doll? Let us know in the comments!
To see more of Wendy Tsao's amazing dolls, click here.
Please SHARE if you would love to see little girls playing with these kinds of dolls!
