Whether you're male or female, everyone can remember their favourite toy as a child.
Many a Eighties/Nineties childhood featured the likes of a Baby Born, Cabbage Patch Kid, an Action Man figurine and the Tracy Island playset.
However, the one item missing from our hoard of toys was a transgender doll – an action figure that recognised the need to show children the fluidity of gender and diversity.
That is, until now.
This weekend, collectible fashion and specialist doll making brand, Tonner Doll Company, will reveal the world's first transgender doll at the New York toy fair, modelled on the US teenager and LGBTQ campaigner, Jazz Jennings.
In an interview with the New York Times ahead of the fair, Jennings said: 'Ever since I was little, I always loved playing with dolls.
'It was a great way to show my parents that I was a girl, because I could just express myself as I am. So this really resonates with me, because it was something so pivotal in my own journey,' she added.
The 16-year-old was thrust into the limelight as one of the youngest people ever officially documented as transgender, according to the Guardian.
'I think this sends a very positive message about the transgender community', she said of the doll, which will wear a pink top and denim shorts and is expected to retail at £72 int he US.
Jennings was first born male and came out as transgender at the age of five, before receiving worldwide attention for her high-profile interview with Barbara Walter on 20/20.
Since then, the teenager has gone onto make television appearances, toured schools, universities and conferences as an advocate for transgender youth.
She's also an author of a memoir and a children's book, and is now best known as the star of I Am Jazz, a TLV reality show that documents her physical and emotional struggles with puberty and life as a transgender youth.
With the likes of Ashley Graham's Barbie doll (whose thighs actually touch), we're happy to think the next generation of children will have the joy of playing with dolls that celebrate and champion diversity.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
