From
Yahoo! News:
Meet Holly Greenhow (pictured), one of the newest child models for popular British
clothing brand Boden. The giggly 7-year-old has golden blond hair and a
sunshiney smile. Like many little girls, she loves dressing up. But
what's unique about Holly is that she's the company's first model with cerebral palsy, which was caused by prolonged oxygen deprivation at birth.
It was initially Holly's grandmother who suggested that the child's
mother, Fiona, take the little girl to a casting call for Boden—one of
Holly's favorite clothing brands. "Not many children with disabilities
have the opportunities that other children have," Fiona, told ITV News.
"I wanted to show that you don't have to be perfect to be in a magazine
or online or in photographs, so that was my desire to push forward and
get it done for Holly."
It took two years to nab an audition, but this
spring, Holly was invited to a casting session and chosen to participate
in the latest online catalog.
She and her mother traveled from their home in Cambridgeshire to
London, where she spent a day trying on clothing and clowning around
with the other kids being photographed. Zena Botha, the studio shoot and
model manager, told the Daily Mail she was "delighted that Holly made the cut." She added that "Holly was charming and we're very pleased with the shoot."
Holly attends a local elementary school along with her 10-year-old
brother, Oliver. She needs a wheelchair to get around, and, while she
understands everything said to her, she's just started to be able to
speak with an eye-controlled computer — similar to the one used by
physicist Stephen Hawking. In a Q&A posted on Boden's blog,
the giddy young model said the funniest person she knows is "Mummy,"
and that if she ruled the world she would play all the time, admitting
that the silliest thing she's ever done is take a bath with her clothes
on.
As it turns out, Holly isn't the first child with a
disability to model for a large company. In 2012, the British brand
Marks and Spencer launched the career of 4-year-old
Seb White,
a boy with Down syndrome, after he appeared in its Christmas ad
campaign, and Holly's dad, Paul, said he was hopeful her Boden stint
might lead to other opportunities. In the United States, a small handful
of television programs such as "Glee" are notable for starring young
characters with disabilities, and a
2012 Target catalog featured a boy with Down's Syndrome. But generally speaking,
people with disabilities
are nearly invisible in mainstream media.
According to the U.S. Census
Bureau, about 12 percent of Americans are living with disabilities,
while the organization
Inclusion in the Arts and Media of People With Disabilities reports that less than 1 percent of the regular characters on television are portrayed as having disabilities.
By Geoff Robinson Mark Perriello, the president and CEO of
the American Association of People With Disabilities,
tells Yahoo Shine that he's pleased that some retailers are finally
"starting to take notice of the 1 billion people with disabilities
worldwide." He adds that "many people with disabilities face lowered
expectations and stigma, and the positive impact of this kind of
advertising can't be overstated."
While Holly is just one cute and
spunky little girl, Boden's choice to feature her, and to do so in a way
that Perriello praises as "tasteful and without pity," may help chip
away at the prejudice that disabled kids still face every day. "I hope
it will help the image of disabled children," said Holly's mother. "And
also open people's eyes to the fact there are lots of children out there
who aren't perfect."
