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TOP 3 : Le mois de l'histoire de noirs
Posted by Orphanie Bégon-Leroy on
Émission Format Familial : TOP 3 : Le mois de l'histoire de noirs
All dolled up: Montreal woman's hand-altered realistic Black dolls are selling out
Posted by Orphanie Bégon-Leroy on
MONTREAL -- Growing up, a lot of Black and brown kids have a hard time finding toys that look like them—especially when it gets down to the details that really count.
Doll-makers, for example, might change a doll's skin colour, but they’re usually still starting with the same old mold: straight hair, Caucasian features, the same western clothing.
“I look at my daughter and personally, I don’t know any little Black girl who comes into this world with straight hair,” said one local mother, Orphanie Bégon-Leroy.
“It’s impossible. We all grow up with afro-textured hair.”
It was seeing the choices available for her daughter that convinced Bégon-Leroy to take matters into her own hands. But in the process, the South Shore woman ended up creating new options for a lot of other kids, too.
Des poupées à son image
Posted by Orphanie Bégon-Leroy on
« Je me suis dit : toutes ces femmes-là ont déjà été des petites filles. Si on ne leur a jamais enseigné adéquatement comment aimer leurs cheveux au naturel, elles grandiront avec ce complexe. »
Avec de tels jouets, l’enfant apprend à développer son sens de l’empathie et à s’identifier. L’impact est majeur sur le développement, pense-t-elle. « Beaucoup de parents gravitent autour d’initiatives comme la mienne depuis l’embrasée du mouvement. Elles renforcent chez l’enfant le sentiment d’être représenté. »
Montreal artist builds self-esteem, one culturally diverse doll at a time
Posted by Orphanie Bégon-Leroy on
“That’s why I make dolls with different skin tones. It’s important to teach children to love themselves because they’re at such a vulnerable period in their lives, where anything that they hear they internalize and they grow up believing it,” Bégon-Leroy said.