When Angelica Sweeting heard her young daughter Sophia complaining about how she looked, Sweeting realized her dolls were providing a very limited example of beauty. And when she couldn't find a doll that reflected her daughter, she decided to make her own.
Thus the Angelica doll was born. Now Sweeting wants to turn her awesome protoype into a toyline for everyone via Kickstarter.
"Say goodbye to spray-painted brown Barbie dolls!" Sweeting notes on her Kickstarter. Instead, her doll has "the face of a beautiful brown girl including a full nose, fuller lips, beautiful cheek bones, and brown eyes." The doll also features fully style-able natural hair. Sweeting and her two girls tested it for eight months to make sure the doll can withstand a lot of wear and tear.
"We twisted, bantu knotted, combed, brushed, blew out, curl wanded and re-washed the hair," Sweeting explains on the fundraising page. "We did this over and over to ensure this doll would be able to withstand a young girls curiosity about taking care of and having fun with kinky/curly hair! No more tangled doll hair!"
Sweeting needs at least 1,000 orders to reach the minimum quantity for her manufacturers. And if she gets enough support, she plans to release a whole line of dolls with different hair and skin tones as well as various careers to inspire young girls. The Angelica doll is an entrepreneur and future dolls will have careers in engineering, journalism, and software development. "I'm creating Angelica to let girls know that they are beautiful," Sweeting says. "Our girls need to see a reflection of their own unique beauty. It's time for our young girls to have a new standard.
To support the project and/or purchase a doll, head over to its Kickstarter page.
[h/t Buzzfeed]
