During Pride of 2020, two Bratz Dolls, Nevra and Roxxie, came out of the closet via the company’s social media platforms. Nevra (who can be seen wearing a bisexual pride pin on her shirt) and Roxxie (who’s wearing a lesbian pride bracelet) were presented as a couple through both Twitter and Instagram.
Now look: it’s easy to get a little cynical around Pride month when companies worth millions of dollars pretend to be allies of the LGBTQ community for profit, when in reality, a lot of these corporations are still funneling money into organizations and politicians that are very much anti-LGBTQ.
However, those behind Bratz have yet to show any signs of falsehood, and just recently—on National Coming Out Day of this year—the company posted another picture of Nevra and Roxxie going on a date to their local haunted house.
While this may seem like small fry to some, the gesture feels significant to queer women, particularly young queer girls who will have the chance to play with dolls like them, an opportunity that many queer women from older generations didn’t have.
“If little girls were taught from a young age that two women being in a relationship with one another is pure and wholesome and lovely (and normal), and not taught that ‘lesbian’ is a sexual and dirty word, they could accept their own sexuality much sooner,” writes Emily Bashforth of LGBTQ Nation.
“Seeing Bratz offer that lifesaving representation to children today makes me emotional because it is giving LGBTQ youth the opportunities to feel seen and heard that I never had. And not only are queer Bratz dolls incredibly important for children to be taught about the existence of the LGBTQ community, they’re also validating for the queer folk in their 20s who grew up ashamed and frightened to be themselves.”
While Bratz is not alone in trying to create more inclusive toys for kids, it’s nice to see that more and more companies are beginning to understand that children seeing themselves represented in their playthings is important. Hopefully, more businesses will follow suit, but until then, here’s to Nevra and Roxxie for living their best lives!
