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Laverne Cox Makes History As First-Ever Transgender Barbie Doll

Home> News

Updated 09:04 26 May 2022 GMT+1Published 08:54 26 May 2022 GMT+1

Laverne Cox Makes History As First-Ever Transgender Barbie Doll

As a child Cox said her mother forbid her from playing with Barbie dolls because she 'was assigned male at birth'

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

Laverne Cox has made history as the first-ever transgender Barbie doll.

The Orange Is the New Black actor was thrilled to learn that she would be Mattel's first transgender rendition of the famous doll.

In a statement given to Page Six, she said: "I can't wait for fans to find my doll on shelves and have the opportunity to add a Barbie doll modelled after a transgender person to their collection."

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Laverne Cox has made history as becoming the first transgender Barbie doll.
Alamy

The 49-year-old also told PEOPLE that the whole experience was 'surreal' and believes the doll will show kids that 'there’s hope and possibility for them to be themselves'.

She said: "What excites me most about her being out in the world is that trans young people can see her and maybe get to purchase her and play with her, and know that there's a Barbie made by Mattel, for the first time, in the likeness of a trans person.

Cox hopes that through her doll, she can show kids 'there's hope and possibility to be themselves'.
Mattel

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"I think in an environment where trans children have been used as a political football, when over 250 pieces of anti-trans legislation have been introduced in state legislatures all over the country in 2022 alone, and access to gender-affirming healthcare has been denied by policies signed into law in my home state of Alabama, in Arkansas and other states.

"That in this environment where trans kids are being attacked, that this can also be a celebration of transness, and also a space for them to dream, understand and be reminded that trans is beautiful.

"That there's hope and possibility for them to be themselves."

"This can also be a celebration of transness".
Mattel

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The LGBTQ+ advocate claims she was 'very involved' in the design process, saying: "I was like, 'Can we make her look more like me? And more African American?'

"And we had a conversation about highlights and lowlights because I'm blonde most of the time now, but I'm a Black girl, so I need a dark root.

"And we had a whole conversation about how they can't do that, but they could do dark low lights."

The Barbie's numerous outfits was definitely something that the actor wanted to promote.

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The doll comes with multiple outfit changes.
Mattel

Cox explained: "I wanted her to wear multiple outfits, but that wasn't cost effective. You want the doll to be affordable.

"So I was like, 'What if she had one outfit that could peel off and become multiple outfits?' So that's what we designed and came up with."

The actor also revealed that as a child, her mother forbid her from playing with Barbie dolls because she 'was assigned male at birth'.

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If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]  

Featured Image Credit: Alamy/Mattel

Topics: World News, LGBTQ

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish has an MA in Multimedia Journalism and is passionate about delivering sarcastic/mildly amusing content. After studying business at undergrad, Anish realised that he’d much prefer getting paid to rant about a topic, rather than to find a solution to it. Apart from that, he loves the ‘Four F’s’, as he calls it - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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@Anish_Vij

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