A Hollywood celebrity now has their own Barbie.
On NBC’s TODAY show Wednesday, the morning staple welcomed Laverne Cox, transgender star of Orange is the New Black.
Cox was all dolled up, which might not have been coincidental. Today.com delivers the news:
To celebrate her 50th birthday on May 29, the Emmy-award winning actor and LGBTQ+ activist is honored with a Tribute Collection Barbie. Her doll is dressed in a red ball gown, a silver bodysuit and comes with accessories like high-heeled boots and silver earrings.
TODAY Parents got in on the action:
“It’s been a dream for years to work with Barbie to create my own doll,” Cox said in a statement shared with TODAY Parents. “I can’t wait for fans to find my doll on shelves and have the opportunity to add a Barbie doll modeled after a transgender person to their collection.”
During the live broadcast, Laverne waxed political:
“[Mattel has] this incredible Barbie tribute series with incredible people like (filmmaker) Ava DuVernay, and (singer) Brandy, etc. And I’m the latest person to be so honored. … I love [the doll], and I had so much fun with everyone at Mattel designing her, but I think, this year particularly, when over 250 pieces of anti-transgender legislation have been introduced in state legislatures all over the country, targeting transgender children, LGBTQ youth, that I hope that all the kids who are feeling stigmatized when their healthcare’s being jeopardized, their ability to play in sports, I hope they can see this Barbie and have a sense of hope and possibility. … Because representation matters.”
2022 Pride Collection Now Available at Walt Disney World, 100% of Profits Benefiting LGBTQIA+ Organizationshttps://t.co/biPiFFTcWL
— WDW News Today (@WDWNT) May 16, 2022
The Disney Pride Collection, in the children’s toy aisle of Walgreens. pic.twitter.com/wGriCgyBwW
— Chad Hasty (@ChadHastyRadio) May 15, 2022
As RedState Editor-at-Large Kira Davis so aptly put it Monday, individuals identifying as the opposite of their sex is a “new social reality.”
Concerning the toy world specifically, there’s certainly been a shift:
Mattel Eyes a Barbie Gay Wedding Playset
Mattel Releases a Gender Fluid Doll Playset for Kids – to ‘Encourage People to Think More Broadly’
LEGO Announces Its Gender-Nonbinary Playset Featuring a Black Drag Queen
Hasbro Announces Its New Gender-Neutral Mr. Potato Head
Gone are the playful ways of yore:
Barbie Unveils Its New Politically Active Doll and Her All-Female Staff
Don’t Confuse the Kids: LEGO Requests All Marketing for Its Police and Fire Sets Be Removed
It’s remarkable how quickly things have changed. Just a few years ago, “transgender” occupied no space in the American lexicon. A mere decade back, surely the majority of Americans wouldn’t have dreamed our present cultural occurrences were in the cards. And if I had to guess, I’d say the transformation is nowhere near done.
Earlier this month, satirical site The Babylon Bee published a related article. It might just prove prophetic: