Princess Planet: A New Campaign for Diversity

So you wouldn’t be too far from the truth if you assumed that I rock hard for diversity, especially for the babies. The struggle to diversify toys and books for children is an ongoing battle but one that has seen some recent victories. For example the criticism of  Zendaya’s faux dread locks has in turn helped create the process of getting her very own Barbie doll. Myles E Johnson once imagined a story of a little black boy named Jeremiah who loved pink and yearned to go to Mars, and with help of artist Kendrick Daye fleshed out into a children book representing for queer black representation. A new line of diverse characters has come to my attention especially for all the little girls who dreamed of being princesses but never could find that much media that included ones that look like them. I’m talking about Princess Planet.

Princess Planet’s origin story is one that sounds famillar: a child asking for parent for a plaything with a character that resembles them. In this case, it was a father whose daughter wanted some princesses and as the search went on, it was apparent that there was a need for more diverse characters for girls. Yes, Princess Planet came about to promote princess characters with diverse hair textures, skin tones, and cultural backgrounds. 

  

Imagine the impact of seeing more versions of women of color, women from different places around the globe and most certainly more versions of women who are eager to share their culture and to also inspire confidence in girls everywhere. The neatest thing is that each princess character is created in mind with a collaboration with an actual woman from each region so the creation process is authentic and a labor of love.

The campaign certainly looks ambitious: books detailing the adventures of the princesses are already in the works. A clothing line and an app are being worked on and later down the line a doll line is planned!

 

 

See more of the other princesses, see the process of the campaign and more on their Facebook page. And if this project interest you further be sure to donate here with their GoFundMe page as their deadline is drawing near! Let’s support diverse content and creators!

 

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