World’s first transgender doll inspired by US teenager Jazz Jennings was launched at the New York Toy Fair.
The 18-inch limited edition doll will dressed in a pink top and jean shorts, just like Jennings on the cover of her 2016 memoir Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen.
The company explained that the doll that doesn’t have genitalia resembles a teenage activist Jazz Jennings who was born a boy but lives as a female.
It has been manufactured by New-York based Tonner Doll Company that specialises in creating collectible fashion dolls, including TV, comic and film characters such as Harry Potter, Spider Man and Wonder Woman. The model is priced at $89.99, with a “red carpet” edition in the works that would cost over $100.
Jennings expressed her reaction to the doll by saying: “I hope that it can place transgender people in a positive light by showing that we are just like all other people.”
“Of course it is still just a regular girl doll because that’s exactly what I am: a regular girl,” Jennings added.
The company was criticised by some who said the company was using the label as a marketing gimmick.