Finally, little boys and girls will be given a more realistic alternative to the Ken doll.

Nickolay Lamm, the genius creator behind the amazing Lammily doll that provided girls with a doll that resembled themselves more than a narrow-minded beauty standards, is now doing the same thing with a boy’s doll. In an email to Revelist, Lamm revealed that he was inspired by his own body image issues as a man to create a “realistically proportioned” male doll:

“Women are unfortunately still having a difficult time facing unrealistic, weight and beauty-obsessed standards today, but it’s important to mention that men also feel the pressure to be tall, muscular, have a full head of hair, etc. It would be unfair to ignore the fact that boys too are affected.”

Lammily

Lammily

Lamm’s not exaggerating. Studies have proven that boys and men also worry about their appearance, and are now facing more pressures to fit a “manly” stereotype that gets more unrealistic and unattainable as the years go by. Body image is not only a “girl” issue, and we shouldn’t be treating it like one. Lamm’s hope is that his new dolls will help redefine what it actually means to be a man.

Lammily

Lammily

Lammily

Lammily

To make the doll, Lamm is relying on the body proportions of the average 19-year-old American male, working with biomechanics professor Dr. Matthew P. Reed to get it right. The end result is a replica of men we see on the street every day, and much more representative of men than Ken’s washboard abs.

Just as he did with the female Lammily doll, Lamm is raising money for this initiative through crowdfunding to help him with production costs. On his crowdfunding page, he wrote:

“He may not have a six-pack, but he has a fantastic sense of humor.

He may not have the biggest biceps, but he has a big heart.

He may not look like a runway model, but he values himself for who he truly is, and always makes sure to pay the same respect to others!”

Lammily

Lammily

Lamm is also allowing donors to decide what kind of backstory the toy will come with. He said, “Will this new Lammily doll be a Sports Lammily? An Entrepreneur Lammily? You decide! There’ll be plenty of empowering selections to choose from.”

Based on the campaign’s success, this is something that boys have definitely needed for a while. The campaign’s goal of $70,000 has already been exceeded, with several more days to go before its deadline. Lamm says:

“With the realistically proportioned boy dolls, I want to show boys that you don’t have to look like a superhero to be a superhero.”

That’s a message we can all get behind.

Featured image via Nickolay Lamm

newsletter

Newsletter

  • Ready to learn body confidence? Sign up for our newsletter!