Mattel has launched some new black Barbie dolls, and they're getting praised and dissed in equal measure. Grace, Kara, and Trichelle, created by Stacy McBride-Irby to give her daughter and other African-American girls dolls that resemble them, have been criticized by some for not being "black enough."
"I love the black Barbie. It's about time," said Jua Simpson, a reporter for CNN's iReport. "But the hair is still a step backwards, since most of our hair is not straight and light brown." (Check out BellaSugar's review of Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair, which addresses this loaded subject for black women.)
These new black Barbies could be said to be a step in the right direction for a couple reasons. First off, it's important that there's not a monolithic (i.e. white) sense of what's beautiful, and studies have shown that little girls of color do absorb the idea that white equals beautiful.
Also, it sounds like more thought was put into creating Grace, Kara, and Trichelle than the Oreo Barbie (hand smacks forehead!) that Mattel came out with in 1997. I guess with all the focus groups and marketing Mattel must surely do, no one bothered to tell them that "Oreo" is a term used by some in the black community to denote someone who is black but "acts" white. (I'm guessing the Oreo Barbie tanked?)
My question is, should we be pushing dolls (of whatever color) on girls at all? Don't dolls just get them to focus on how they look, as opposed to toys that would invite them to invent, think and do things, like boys' toys? (I mean, boys have dolls action figures, but yeah, notice the emphasis is on action, on doing things rather than on just being pretty.)
What do you think about the new black Barbies and about dolls as girls' primary toys in general? Do you think it's outdated to push dolls on girls, or do you think girls gravitate to dolls naturally?
Untold
yes, girls gravitate to dolls naturally and i think dolls are great...there's no reason not to buy your child dolls if he or she wants one
the black barbies are definitely a step in the right direction for black children who need a doll to identify with
to be fair, all barbies regardless of what they look like or which character they are, have the same hair...all barbies look the same, really, which is part of their "thing"...so the hair issue on the barbies pictured is a non-issue...if they had added an afro, people would surely be complaining about the stereotype
1I think girls gravitate to dolls, but also realize that they see things in magazines or on TV and are just as affected by the media as anyone else. I think having a black barbie is common sense. I know there are a lot of shades of black, but there are a lot of shades of white, too...so it's kind of weird to say that a doll isn't "black enough". It's not like they are going to manufacture barbies of every single possible shade. The white barbie is just as generic (not everyone is peaches and cream or whatever). I think dolls are marketed to be aesthetically pleasing for a toy, and children are attracted to things that look approachable and friendly. It is wrong to "push" anything on a child, but you're not doing any harm to your kid by giving them a barbie. Parents should assume the responsibility of kindly reminding their children that not everyone is white, with straight blonde hair, a narrow waist and big boobs. Not everyone is tall either. If you tell your kids that it is just a doll and in no way reflects real life, then I don't see how there would be any other big issues.
2I think it's a very good step for Mattel. Personally, I remember being drawn to both the barbie dolls and some of the boy toys as well. It's not pushing dolls on your children if you let them decide.
3I had a black Barbie with a cool kinky 'fro when I was a kid. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Oh and it wasn't a 70's Barbie (or whatever they call the retro Barbies).
4I'm black and I don't know a lot of black women with BIG ASS lips like those dolls.
5Well, not all white people have perfectly straight hair either... but Barbies don't come with wavy or curly hair that often either. Does this make white Barbies racist for not being "white" enough?
6I like the black Barbies, too. They're lovely.
I like all Barbie dolls, actually.
7I don't think we should push any specific toys on children of either gender, but I don't see anything wrong with letting your daughter play with Barbies/dolls if that's what she wants to do. I'm not sure about you, Tres, but when I played with Barbies, it definitely wasn't just focused on looks. I changed their outfits/did their hair at the beginning of playing, then focused on their interactions, gave them careers, families, lives, etc. Barbies are actually made to focus on so much more than looks.
8I played with Barbies and i didn't pay a speck of attention to what she looked like in regards to myself.. It just wasn't a factor for me. I liked the clothing and accessories and the houses and playsets. My daughter has naturally gravitated towards baby dolls at nearly 2, and LOVES clothing, all on her own... while i admit to liking baby clothes, i could really give a crap less what I wear. I wear jeans and tshirts and hoodies and skater shoes, and she likes dresses and sparkly things and all clothes really. Her favorite part about her babies now is feeding and hugging and dressing them. She will most likely like Barbies later on for all of the same reasons. Simulation with dolls is stimulating and fun, which is why games like The Sims are so popular even with adults.
I'm glad they are changing things with barbies, but mostly because they are all really generic and i like variety. I have 3 younger sisters, and all of our dolls and barbies were an equal share of whatever ethnicities they were available in.
9Lilkimbo, I did focus on her looks, but I get that that's not what everyone did with them. I was busy trying to curl her plastic hair with a hot iron and paint her lips with red fingernail polish
10I wonder if the hair issue has to do with the cheap plastic Mattel uses for the dolls' hair? I remember even my blond, straight Barbies' hair got tangled like every freaking day and just got ripped out whenever I tried to brush it.
11I like the post posts about not all black people and white people being the same. I'm white, but I've never seen a Barbie with a Roman nose like me.
About dolls being a good or bad influence: I read a study about girls and Barbie doll's in one of my Sociology classes; it found that girls who played with Barbies were actually calmer, more socially aware, and (surprisingly) more confident about themselves than girls who only had baby dolls. The study noted that girls often used Barbie to express their more complex and painful emotions; if Mom and Dad fought, Barbie and Ken fought. If someone passed away, one Barbie would disappear and the other Barbies would sit down and console each other. Girls expressed their feelings rather than keeping them bottled up inside, which ultimately helped them become happier and healthier adults. So I don't think Barbie is really bad at all.
Also, I remember a Ken doll from the 60s my friend had scavenged from her attic. He was whiter than Barbie, had plain brown hair, and wasn't nearly as buff as the 1990's bronzed god. We called him Ugly Ken, but I remember that when I first looked at the two side-by-side was when I started to understand that Barbie...her cute button nose, her tiny waist, her pink lips... was someone's representation of a person, rather than an actual person.
12"I love the black Barbie. It's about time," said Jua Simpson, a reporter for CNN's iReport. "But the hair is still a step backwards, since most of our hair is not straight and light brown."
Oh please, like every white person has blond hair, blue eyes, a tiny waist, and huge boobs.
13Grace? Ok classy. Kara? Nice name as well. Trichelle? Really? Really, Mattel? I guess they thought if they had used the name Shaniqua people would have accused them of trying too hard.
14Haha TammyO I imagine a board room of people mulling over which names to choose and finally deciding upon these three. I don't really have another other suggestions that would work better, but then again I'm no marketing major!
15@skigurl- the way my hair grows out of my head isn't a stereotype, it's just the way it grows. if they had made one doll out of three have natural tightly coiled hair, it would have truly been a step towards progress. hair is a very touchy subject for many african american women, and i believe about 70% of black women in america straighten their hair. i think i would have been a positive affirmation for black little girls, who often don't have straightened hair, and are most likely going to be the ones playing with these dolls, to have their hair represented in the dolls they are playing with. this was the subject of chris rock's movie, good hair, because his young daughter approached him asking what was wrong with her hair. representing different hair textures and skin tones is very important if you're going to create a somewhat realistic line of black dolls.
16@pink45- your commentary is out of line. first of all, what's wrong with big lips? a lot of black people DO have big lips, and what? what have you have you got to say to them? that they looked deformed because THE WAY THEY WERE BORN doesn't adhere to your idiotic strictures of what constitutes attractiveness? gtfoh with your racist, (and if you are even black) self-hating bullsh*t.
17@anonymous 6:07pm look this line of dolls was created to depict a more positive and varied representation of black women so i don't understand what your point is. there is a dearth of black dolls out there do begin with, they should be as affirming as possible, which is the point that woman was making about the hair. get over it.
18*to begin with
19sloane - just for the record, i have very curly dark brown hair which i straighten too
no barbie ever looked like me when i was younger
i get that hair is a touchy subject in the black community but a barbie is a barbie...it's not going to look like every kid who plays with it
20My bad then - sorry to assume that. Guess we'll learn more about you as you comment more on here.
21oh sorry - comment on wrong page - ugh!
22I had tons of Barbie's growing up and I have to say, being a blonde, straight hair - pale eyed kid, I always found the Barbies that had darker hair/skin tone to be more fascinating to me. I was least interested in playing with one that had similar coloring to myself. (My favorites were Jasmine and some wavy haired red headed cowgirl with freckles.)
I was more into cutting old socks into "tube" dresses for the barbies, or trying to sew them clothing out of fabric.
I think it would be healthy for all little girls who play with barbies to have a variety of barbies in many different colors. It is a step in the right direction - even if all the barbies have straight hair.
Seriously - anyone remember trying to comb the barbies that had wavy or curly hair - the few they made? It was a pain, always knotted, and I ended up never playing with their hair. Maybe there's a reason they stick with long straight hair on all of them - it's easier for little girls to brush and put into ponytails or cut. And who hasn't tried to give their barbie a bob only to have it stick out all over her head?
23good point to the poster who mentioned the nose thing!
24a lot of black people actually have noses of similar shape than Barbie of all colours even the white ones: I'm talking about prominance and overall proportion to the face rather than, for instance, width of the nostrils or whatever..
On the other hand, most "white" caucasian people, at least where i come from (europe), don't have small button-noses. they have rather prominent, aquiline (beaky) noses that i have yet to see on ANY doll, ever.
add to that that a lot of white women with that type of natural and common "white" facial feature are now getting nose jobs to surgically remove it...
i think that pretty much negates the whole polemic, right there.
girls come in a wide variety of skin tones with a wide variety of features. i don't expect mattel to make a barbie to cover them all because barbie has a distinctive look that makes her a barbie. but when producing a product to the masses you're bound to find someone complaining. if they made a black barbie with a flat nose like mine and curly hair i'd expect find plenty of boos along with the kudos.
25I preferred my Hawaiian Barbie and Teresa, my Hispanic Barbie, to the blonde haired blue eyed ones...and none of these actually reflected my physical appearance. I think it's great that a new line of black barbies have been introduced!
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