One of the best things about Northwestern, in my opinion, is that it encourages both student leadership and an ever-growing discourse aimed at positive social change. Students here don’t shy away from talking about real issues, and, in fact, this often leads to some really creative solutions to the problems they discover. Laura Winters, Northwestern class of 2014, is one of those problem-solvers.

Laura, during her time at Northwestern, really became interested in the issue of what modern media teaches young girls. Encouraged by her friends and family, she and her sister, Beth, decided to try to tackle one small element of this issue and focused in on the “princess stereotype.” On their kickstarter, the sisters write:

At some point in her life, almost every girl wants to be a princess.  And that’s great! Within the last few years, there have been a handful of a “new breed” of princesses who are as ambitious as they are kind and sincere.  But these few recent examples are competing against the thousands of years of princesses who are valued only for their beauty, their docility and their ability to find a wealthy, royal husband.

It is with this idea in mind that EqualiToys was born. The twin sisters started this company themselves and aimed it at eliminating the stereotypes which are reinforced by gendered toys. Their first project is called “Her Highness Builds Robots,” which is a coloring book which gets inside the princess stereotype and reinvents what it means to be royal. The seven princesses these sisters designed are diverse in race, body type, and interests. Princess Priya is a chemical engineer who loves to play chess, and Princess Rafa is a passionate sculptor and playwright. Laura and Beth wrote and designed the pages of the book in pairs; the first page hints at a princess stereotype (i.e. “After Priya won the Prince’s love…”) and then the second page grounds it in a more well-rounded image of the princess (“…she also won their game of chess!”) With a creative product ready to go, Laura and Beth raised enough money to illustrate and print their coloring book by preselling it online. Now, they have an Etsy shop up and running and have been hard at work contacting independent bookstores who might stock their shelves with “Her Highness Builds Robots.” So far, these sisters have four states covered and are touching the lives of children across the country.

–Veronique Filloux