Two Dads Team Up To Make Their Own Line Of Black And Mixed-Race Dolls

Gaëtan Etoga and Yannick Nguepdjop are dads on a mission.

The Québec, Canada residents found that, like many parents, the dolls available for their children didn’t look like or represent their children. So, they got to work, and their company, Ymma, was born.

New Trump Approval Ratings Show How Strongly Americans Feel About His Policies 5 Months Into Presidency

Ramesh out of the rubble and Ruangsak Loychusak both in seat 11A

Passenger Who Survived Deadly Plane Crash In 1998 Says He Was In Same Miraculous Seat As Sole Survivor of Air India Crash

College Dropout Dethrones Taylor Swift As The World’s Youngest Self-Made Billionaire

Couple Steals Back Own Car After Police Said There’s Nothing They Can Do About It

Etoga saw a glaring issue with the lack fo diversity in toys.

Speaking to Huffington Post , he referenced a 1940 study that presented Black children with a Black doll and a white doll, then asked them what they thought of each doll.

The answers broke Etoga’s heart.

The children said the white dolls were more beautiful.

“These little children, they didn’t have any toys that looked like them from an early age. I think certain parts of society dictate to them that their hair and their noses are ugly.”

That’s why representation is so important.

It helps children develop self-esteem and healthy body image, which are important topics to both Etoga and Nguepdjop.

The two set out to create dolls that would represent more than just white children.

The two men wanted to bring both of their homes together.

Both grew up in Douala, Cameroon before moving to Québec, a primarily French-speaking province in Canada. Even though the province is ethnically diverse, the toy shelves were seriously lacking.

There were almost no Black dolls.

“We realized that the Black dolls were missing. In the rare cases they are on shelves, they’re at the bottom, or they’re really expensive,” they said.

Ymma strives to change all that.

They offer three different dolls for children to play with — Priso, Beri, and Sadi. They’re named after neighborhoods in Douala, and they’re absolutely stunning!

They want the dolls to be for all children.

“We really believe that exposing all kinds of children to a variety of toys will have an impact on society in the future — not just for them, but for the people they interact with — and make the world a better place.”

The clothes the dolls wear are made close to home.

Each doll wears clothing handmade in Cameroon, using textiles sourced locally, and two feature traditional fabrics like the ndop, a traditional fabric used in large ceremonies in the west of Cameroon.