Growing up, most girls would have at least one favorite doll. She always looked perfect. She was stylish, had perfect hair and her makeup was flawless. Most women would say that this kind of doll, paired with images of photoshopped models all over the media, has helped shape their idea of beauty and an unattainable standard of perfection.
Often times, even when we want to achieve a more ‘’natural’’ look, we still have to use a lot of makeup to look like we are not wearing any! Just imagine how young girls feel pressured by having to conform to society’s expectations on how they have to look and present themselves.
It would be a lot easier if women everywhere could learn to celebrate their own beauty without a need to fit into a certain standard, just celebrating their own uniqueness. For that to change, we need to start educating and supporting our girls early on, teaching them to embrace their natural looks without trying so hard to be someone else.
That’s what one mom from Tasmania was trying to teach her daughter when she got a hold of a few Bratz dolls that looked totally inappropriate and overly-sexualized for the age group they appealed to.
Sonia Singh, in her own words, rescues and rehabilitates second-hand dolls from local thrift shops in Tasmania and gives them a ”make-under”, which consists of removing their existing makeup and repainting their faces with childlike features. She makes them new shoes and her mom sews and knits them new clothes.
What started as a fun hobby, now is a thriving business, with people from all over the world trying to buy one her beautiful dolls. As soon as she puts them up for sale on her Etsy shop, they are sold out in minutes.
Hopefully, toy companies will take a hint and start teaching this new generation of girls to love themselves just as they are.
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Before and After
Playing in the garden
The Artist, Sonia Singh
Via: Huffington Post
