After the doll was debuted at the New York Toy Fair this month, the figure billed as the “world’s first transgender doll” will be available to buy this summer. The doll is inspired by a 16-year-old transgender activist Jazz Jennings. Diagnosed with gender dysphoria at the age of three, Jazz, born a boy, transitioned to living as a girl at age five.
(Photo Credit: The Advocate)
The doll, which is 18 inches tall, was created by the Tonner Doll Company, who modelled it on Jazz herself. The doll wears a pink top and jean shorts, similar to those worn by Jazz herself on the cover of her memoir, Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen. Robert Tonner of the Doll Company creating the doll stated that “Jazz stands for everything I respect from a human nature point of view-she’s incredibly brave, intelligent, warm-hearted and creative.”
However, the general public has not been entirely receptive to the concept of a transgender doll, raising questions about what makes a doll “transgender.”
(Photo Credit: BBC)
Jazz Jennings, wrote an Instagram post explaining the importance of the doll. “I hope that it can place transgender people in a positive light by showing that we are just like all other people.” She also asserted that “For those asking: the doll is considered to be the first ‘transgender’ doll because it’s based on an individual who is trans. Of course it is still just a regular girl doll because that’s exactly what I am: a regular girl!”
(Photo Credit: Instagram)