For anyone wondering if dolls matter
It all matters.
And please note: I have never had a person of color say it doesn’t matter. The only people who have said that maybe I’m reading too much into it are white.
It all matters.
And please note: I have never had a person of color say it doesn’t matter. The only people who have said that maybe I’m reading too much into it are white.
This video always brings tears to my eyes.
Dolls that look like our children matter - a lot. Thanks for this sobering reminder!
Oh that’s heartbreaking! The little girl who points to the “bad” doll as the doll who looks like her . . . that’s just so sad. The older girls were inspiring though. Yes. It matters.
Oh absolutely.
Dawn, I think we’ve got to do something about Polly Pocket. Not that that will solve everything — certainly this is just one way our girls will race this issue of nonrepresentation, mainstream movies are another (where not only are “heroes” white but also boys, because girls are expected to be able to shift identification but boys have no need to do so) — but when I was in Target last night the Polly Pocket row was very crowded, both with toys and with little girls and their moms (white as well as aa).
I saw this online today and thought of your post: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070812/multicultural_dolls.html?.v=3
Kiri Davis’s film is just great, I voted for her in that Cosmo Girl thing and posted about it. The doll part made me cry, it just breaks my heart.
I’m going to Kmart.
I absolutely think it mattters, and just for the record, I’m white. I was an elementary school teacher for two years in central Florida, and ached for my kids who didn’t have those images or “role models” to look to. I always wanted to be the one to help them (and all my students, for that matter) to feel smart, valued, beautiful. But I’m not sure how much of a difference I made, in contrast to the messages they get daily.
Hi Dawn,
I may have mentioned this site before, but I think it’s a great place to buy ethnic dolls.
Dolls Like Me
Plus, although I can’t find the original article about Brownstone Buddies, I blogged about a brand new line of multicultural dolls that was created by two NY black moms. They were picked up by FAO Schwarz and will be out this fall.
Brownstone Buddies
I don’t understand why manufacturers don’t Get On The Stick with this one. Isn’t there money to be made? Yes, I know there are ethnic dolls out there and that’s great that you can buy them — after an Internet search assuming you have Internet access and the time & money to go after them — but there should be mass-market inexpensive toys.
I wonder if it’s the kind of thing that reflects (literally) on the people doing the designing.We tend to create representations of people in our own image.
I can’t watch this because I’m at work, but I’ve always thought this was one of the strengths of Bratz dolls (by strengths I mean a reason why they sell so well). Yes, they are horribly sexualized, but they aren’t all blonde and blue-eyed. In fact, they mostly aren’t.