Laverne Cox Now Has Her Own Barbie Doll
Mattel has honored the transgender icon with a Barbie doll modeled after her as part of its Tribute Collection.
Laverne Cox finally has a Barbie doll designed after her.
The Emmy award-winning transgender actress and advocate appeared on the Today Show on Wednesday to announce that Mattel will be selling the Laverne-inspired Barbie dolls, and to share what the doll will look like to viewers.
The doll includes a mix-and-match-style outfit designed by Carlyle Nuera, and is part of Mattel’s Barbie Tribute Collection, which honors and celebrates visionary women whose contributions have helped shape and impact culture.
On Mattel’s website, the company explains why Cox was a perfect icon to be honored with a Tribute doll.
“As a four-time Emmy-nominated actress, Emmy-winning producer, and the first transgender woman of color to have a leading role on a scripted TV show,” the description reads. “Laverne Cox uses her voice to amplify the message of moving beyond societal expectations to live more authentically.”
Cox is one of 16 figures to be honored with a Tribute doll.
Cox first rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, becoming the first transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her work on the show.
In 2015, she won a Daytime Emmy Award in Outstanding Special Class Special as the executive producer of Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word. She has most recently guest-starred in several TV shows, and plays the role of Kacy Duke in the American drama miniseries Inventing Anna.
She has been able to use her celebrity and the platform she has as a prominent actress to bring the issue of transgender rights to the forefront of the national conversation.
During her appearance on the Today Show, Cox also spoke out against the wave of anti-trans legislation that has been passed in various state legislatures in recent years, ranging from bans on transgender athletes to restroom bans to the criminalization of gender-affirming medical care for minors to laws barring classroom discussions of LGBTQ issues.
Within the past year alone, the number of anti-trans bills being introduced — usually by Republican lawmakers — has skyrocketed, jumping from 41 in 2021 to nearly 240 in 2022.
“I hope all the kids who are feeling stigmatized when their health care is being jeopardized, whose ability to play sports [is curtailed], I hope they can see this Barbie and feel a sense of hope and possibility,” Cox said.
Since the doll’s release on Wednesday, it has consistently taken up the top slots on Amazon’s Top Toy sellers list. The dolls currently sells for $40 and can be found on Mattel’s website.
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