Getting ready to start your Christmas shopping? Still searching for a nice gift to give to your daughters, nieces, or granddaughters? Meet Lammily.
She was originally created by a man named Nickolay Lamm, a graphic designer and researcher. Lammily is just your average 19-year-old girl—with cellulite, acne, and freckles. Her body proportions and curves are average for her age, unlike her predecessor Barbie (shown above) who has dominated the doll market since 1959. Lammily is definitely giving Barbie a run for her money with more than 19,000 dolls preordered.
Lammily’s accessories say it all. Clear vinyl stickers to customize your doll can be purchased to add scars, scrapes, moles, grass stains, and more. These give her a normal look and send the message that life has many bumps that may leave marks on us along the way. (Although I don’t think I’d categorize freckles and glasses as flaws.)
Even her clothing is different than Barbie’s. Barbie’s outfits are cocktail dresses, rock concert attire, and how to look pretty in pink. Lammily’s attire encourages girls to see the world with outfits ready to take a stroll in Paris, explore Rio de Janeiro, and have an adventure in Scotland. These subtle changes surely don’t go unnoticed.
“Many people criticize Barbie but there was no alternative,” Lamm told The Guardian. “Now I’ve made one and when little girls see her, hold her, they feel like they already know her because she is more like them and the people they know.”
There’s no mistaking the oversexualization, objectification, and lack of a positive body image of women in our society. We see it in how our clothes are designed (even our kid’s clothes), in how men try to get a woman’s attention, and in our gender stereotypes.
Our September 2014 issue’s feature article “Selfie esteem” addressed the fact that young people have poor body image. It is especially critical for this generation because, “while young women have long faced social pressure to look their best, the fact that ‘the glare of the camera is never far away,’ as [New York Times parenting columnist of the column Motherlode], Randye Hoder puts it, sets the experience of today’s teenagers and young adults apart from that of previous generations. The message is loud and clear: You must be beautiful.”
To Lammily, “Average is beautiful.” For some, it is encouraging that she’s setting a positive example for young women as a more realistic and refreshing alternative.
Is she a step in the right direction? What do you think?
Image: Flickr photo cc by Tracheotomy Bob. The photo is of Barbie.
