Jazz Jennings was interviewed by Barbara Walters when she was just 6 years old in a special 20/20 episode. The program made her one of the youngest people ever to talk publicly about being transgender. Now 16, Jennings is still a vocal advocate for young people in the transgender community.
The New York Times reports that New York’s Tonner Doll Company is producing a limited-edition doll based on Jennings to celebrate her accomplishments, which include two books, her own reality show, and opening her own foundation to aid transgender youth.
Jennings told the NYT that she wishes something like this doll had been around when she was a little girl:
“Ever since I was little, I always loved playing with dolls,” she said in an interview on Thursday. “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.”
The NYT calls the doll itself “transgender,” but Chief Executive Robert Tonner says his primary interest is in Jazz Jennings herself, who he’s followed since seeing her on that 20/20 episode. “I don’t even know if the word ‘transgender’ will be on the package,” Tonner said, “She’s a great kid. She’s a very brave, special person. And that’s what we’re trying to get out there.”
The doll will be wearing a pink top and jean shorts, as Jennings does on the cover of her memoir Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen. The model is fairly expensive at $89.99, with a “red carpet” edition planned as well that will likely cost over $100. Of course, without the red carpet edition how could you recreate this:
