Bratz Dolls (which target 5-12 year old girls) are easily recognized by their glam-heavy makeup looks. But artist Wendy Tsao decided to see what would happen if she gave young girls more realistic, substantial women to look up to.
Inspired by the work of Sonja Singh, an artist who has been repairing and upcycling forgotten dolls, Tsao decided to refurbish a series of Bratz Dolls. She stripped them of their heavy makeup and gave them new personalities by looking to feminist heroes of the past and present, like Frida Kahlo.
Other than Frida, Tsao also created dolls for Roberta Bondar, Jane Goodall, Waris Dirie, J.K. Rowling, and Malala Yousafzai.
Tsao’s Bratz Doll project reminds us of the anti-princess books started by Nadia Fink – which coincidentally also includes Frida Kahlo – aimed at helping young children find better role models than the damsel in distress found in many books. “The dolls we find in toy stores today are fictional characters to young consumers,” Tsao said, according to West-Info. “But there are real-life people who are heroes too, with inspiring stories of courage, intelligence, strength and uniqueness.”
Check out the rest of her dolls below:
Waris Dirie, Somali model, author, social activist
Roberta Bondar, first Canadian female astronaut
MalalaYousafzai, Pakistani activist, youngest Nobel Prize laureate.
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter author
Jane Goodall, British primatologist