"What began as a way of giving his daughter an alternative to Barbie - and the european standard of beauty she presents - led to Taofick Okoya creating a line of African dolls that not only celebrate the beauty of black women, but showcase Nigeria's heritage in all its glory. Now Okoya stands as one of Nigeria's most promising entrepreneurs and has seen his dolls even outsell Barbie. Of the dolls, Okoyo remarks in a recent interview with Elle: "African-inspired increase little girls’ sense of self-appreciation and confidence. When little girls play with dolls, they see themselves in or as the doll, they dress it in clothes they like and act out their fantasies. The more of their own likeness they see in the things they like, the more accepting they will be of their looks and culture."
By Alexander Aplerku, AFROPUNK Contributor
Seeing things like this makes me really happy. One of the main ways the media manipulates women is by the images of women they see every day, depicting how normal women should look. These images can start damaging the self esteem of girls from a very young age, in the form of dolls. One of the most famous dolls, Barbie, depicts a blond, white, horribly disproportionate woman. This is the image of beauty all little girls receive. This is why representation in the media is so important. If media is a reflection of society, and you cant find an image like you in the media, does that mean that you don't exist; that you aren't worth existing? People always tell me that I look like an actress. They can rattle off several actresses who resemble me. There is no lack of pale, round faced, bulgey eyed women in the media. However, I cannot say the same about other types of women. If there were no actresses who looked like me, I doubt I would be able to see myself as an actress. representation, especially for women, gives you self confidence and a sense of your identity. Having dolls who look like you and represent your culture should be the norm.
i do not completely agree. i dont believe that these dolls are doing anything to help with the whole missrepresentation problem. these dolls are not much different than barbies, i mean the only difference is the skin tone. these dolls are essentially barbie dolls with a culture change. they are still showing disproportionate women. these are not real women either.
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