Manufacturers of the Barbie dolls have been on a campaign as part of the 60th anniversary Barbie Shero by honouring legends with patented dolls. This act of goodwill is not something every one of these selected few seems interested in.
South African musician Yvonne Chaka Chaka has, for the second time, reportedly declined an offer to honour her with a doll. Her reason is simple: she will not accept it if the dolls will not look like her.
“They showed me the doll and I told them I’m not up for it if the said dolls will look nothing like me. This is simply because I was promised something that will look exactly like me. I respect myself that much,” reports Sunday World.
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According to the report, the doll looked slimmer and did not have her facial features.
The South African music icon – popularly known as the Princess of Africa – declined Barbie’s offer which is part of the Shero campaign – an effort to inspire girls to be heroes.
According to the campaign, Sheroes are given the Barbie brand’s highest honour, a one-of-a-kind doll made in their likeness, in celebration of their roles in expanding the possibilities for girls everywhere.
The singer was one of the few African women approached to have a Barbie modelled in their likeness.
According to Sunday World, Yvonne Chaka Chaka said that she was approached by the company and loved the idea, but was not happy with the final product as the doll looked nothing like her.
Apparently, the songstress told the company to give it another shot, but even their second attempt failed to get her approval.
So after she sent them packing twice, they found another woman who is also an inspiration – fellow South African singer Lira. The popular singer became the first African to have a Barbie doll made in her honour. And it seems like the company got it right as the doll is a spitting image of Lira.
Lira, a South African musician and businesswoman, joins the likes of African-American filmmaker Ava Duvernay, American model and actress Yara Shahidi, Ghanaian-British model Adwoa Aboah, NASA mathematician and physicist Katherine Johnson and other women who were picked for being extraordinary role-models for young girls around the world.
