In the toy industry, dolls mainly come in one shade: clear. Ymma is the replica of Gaëtan Etoga and Yannick Nguepdjop, two entrepreneurs who bet on teaching children about diversity and promoting inclusion, one doll at a time.
One is an engineer, the other a mathematician. Nothing predicted them a career in the world of toys, except the fact that they are both fathers and dream of a better world for their children.
“I have two boys, and I don’t want them to be ashamed of their identities. I don’t want my kids to feel bad about who they are and where they’re from. I would like them to be at peace with that ”, confides Gaëtan Etoga, met in his house in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
Ymma – which means “strong woman” in East Africa – has only a short year of life, but she had been simmering in the minds of her designers for a long time. Born in Cameroon, Gaëtan and Yannick followed each other in France, then in Quebec.
Wherever their peregrinations took them, the same observation tormented them: the lack of diversity on the shelves of toy stores.
Last year, the two accomplices finally went into business.
We said to ourselves that it was the right time, because the Black Lives Matter movement had made people very aware of these issues.
Gaëtan Etoga, founder of Ymma
“And with the pandemic, we ended up with a lot of time on our hands. Everything was aligned so that we could work on it, ”says Gaëtan Etoga.
Ymma dolls were thus born. They have a caramel or darker complexion, are dressed in colorful outfits and handmade in Cameroon, and topped with silky black curls. At the beginning of December, the company unveiled its new collection called Bissa – which means “profession” in Cameroonian dialect – which comes in dolls for doctor, lawyer and business owner.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
On the left and in the center, two new models (the doctor and the business owner) from the Bissa collection. On the right, a doll from the general collection. Their clothes are made in Cameroon.
“Our mission is to inspire children to dream big. Society tends to make children believe that such and such is accessible to them and that such and such is not. We want to redistribute the cards and tell them that everything is accessible, as long as we give ourselves the means to achieve our dream, ”said Gaëtan Etoga.
The doll test
What could be more harmless than a doll? some will say.
In the 1940s, American researchers Kenneth and Mamie Clark conducted an experiment to study African-American children’s perception of their skin color using dolls. When asked which doll was nice, the children would point to the white doll without hesitation. Conversely, which one was bad? The one who looked like them.
“Personally, when I saw that, it broke my heart,” breathes Gaëtan Etoga.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
A Ymma doll, which means “strong woman”.
Of course, times have changed since the Clark experience, and the toy industry has started to embrace diversity. Small companies like Ymma are also filling in the gaps in the market offer. But more is needed, believes Gaëtan Etoga.
“We think it’s important that there are other companies – not just us – so that people have a choice and that we can compete with big companies like Mattel,” says the co-founder.
One doll at a time
Because that’s the goal, ultimately. Compete against the industry’s Mattels and their fair-eyed blonde dolls.
For now, Ymma is concentrating on her mission. Business is going well. Customer feedback is encouraging – like those parents who bought dolls to teach their children about diversity.
“We believe that all children should have diversity dolls. If they have the opportunity to be exposed to it at a young age, they will be more aware as they grow older that people come in different shapes and colors. […] These feedbacks make me really happy, it shows that there is a meaning to what we do and that we do not work for nothing. ”