This is progress...
From the editors of InStyle Words by Isabel Jones
As if being the first U.S. athlete to wear a hijab while competing in the Olympics wasn't enough, fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad is now the inspiration behind the first-ever hijab-wearing Barbie doll.
Set to release in 2018, Mattel has honoured the 31-year-old athlete, who took home a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics with Team USA, with a doll made in her likeness - led after female boundary-breakers like Ashley Graham, Gabby Douglas, Misty Copeland, and Ava DuVernay.
'Through playing with Barbie, I was able to imagine and dream about who I could become,' Ibtihaj Muhammad said in a statement. 'I love that my relationship with Barbie has come full circle, and now I have my own doll wearing a hijab that the next generation of girls can use to play out their own dreams.'
'Barbie is celebrating Ibtihaj not only for her accolades as an Olympian, but for embracing what makes her stand out,' Sejal Shah Miller, vice president of global marketing for Barbie, explained. 'Ibtihaj is an inspiration to countless girls who never saw themselves represented, and by honouring her story, we hope this doll reminds them that they can be and do anything.'
Way to go, Ibtihaj!
