I Never Looked Like the Women in Magazines — And That Broke Me Sooner Than It Should Have
By the founder of Lolly Rose Dolls
I was eight the first time I felt like I wasn’t enough.
I was flipping through my mom's Cosmopolitan magazine, mesmerized by the glossy pages. The women were airbrushed, picture-perfect, and impossibly beautiful. Their makeup? Flawless. Their bodies? Unreal.
And somewhere deep in my little girl heart, I remember thinking:
“I don’t look like them. I probably never will.”
That was the moment I realized that womanhood had a template — a look, a weight, a wardrobe. And if I didn’t match it, I was not worthy.
Of course, I didn’t have the language for it then. But the feeling? That stayed. It followed me into dressing rooms. Into crushes. Into every scroll through social media where beauty was curated and filtered and flaunted.
What Dolls Really Teach Little Girls?
It didn’t start with magazines. It started earlier — with the dolls I played with.
My first dolls didn’t wear soft dresses or carry books. They wore miniskirts and stilettos. They had full faces of makeup and lashes thicker than my self-worth. And they taught me something before I even knew I was learning:
“This is what beautiful looks like.”
“This is how to be admired.”
“This is what love looks like.”
I didn’t just play with those dolls. I absorbed them. And I began to believe that being a girl wasn’t enough — I had to become something else to be worthy.
Now I’m a Mom… and I’m Doing It Differently
Today, I have a daughter of my own. And I see the world trying to hand her the same pressure — but louder, faster, and filtered through a phone.
So I made a decision.
I created Lolly Rose Dolls — hand-knit, heirloom-quality dolls that protect what matters most:
Childhood.
No makeup. No midriff. No messaging that says “be more.”
Just warmth. Whimsy. Wonder.
Our dolls are crafted by women in Peru and Nepal — not machines. Not factories. Real hands. Real hearts.
Because not every doll should perform. Some should just… comfort.
The Power of One Small Choice
You and I can’t stop the world from selling our daughters unrealistic beauty. But we can shape the first stories they hold.
And sometimes, that starts with the simplest thing...the doll in their arms.
So I’m here to say: You don’t have to pass down the same story you were handed.
You can give her something softer. Something safer. Something that tells her, right from the start:
“You are already enough.”
💛 Want to see the dolls I wish I had growing up?
🧸 Click here to shop the Lolly Rose collection » https://lollyrosedolls.com
Let’s raise a generation of girls who never wonder if they’re good enough.
Let’s tell them... from day one... that they already are.
#motherhood #childhood #bodyimage #dolls #heirloomtoys #lollyrosedolls