Anyone who pays attention to toys must have noticed that, while there are zillions of action figures aimed at boys, there are very few for girls. And the female figurines tend to have uber Barbie-like proportions. New York City neighbors and fellow mothers Dawn Nadeau and Julie Kerwin noticed that too. And they decided to do something about it. The result is IAmElemental. Formed in 2013, the social enterprise sells action figures for girls that are a) character-based and b) have what Kerwin describes as a “healthier breast to hip ratio.” (“More Heroine, Less Hooters” is what’s written on their Kickstarter page) “The hyper-sexualization of women in the media has exploded in the last 10 years,” says Kerwin. “It‘s counteracting the strides that have been made in gender equality.” Specifically, in the IAmElemental. Universe, “the girl is the superhero,” says Kerwin . “It’s character, not the characters.” The figures are designed to have a more-than-usual level of articulation; so, you can make the figures do a lot more than other toys. They’re also not tied to a specific movie, cartoon or comic book series. As a result, the founders say the toys will encourage imaginative play—play where, believe it or not, the kid makes up the story completely on her own, instead of being boxed into the parameters of the movie or TV show the toy is linked to.

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