This is the 50th anniversary year of the birth of Mattel's iconic Barbie doll. Barbie has had a somewhat interesting relationship with Black women and the Black community. The first Black Barbie dolls weren't created until 1980, although Christie dolls were available starting in 1968. The Oreo Barbie was a PR disaster, but the AKA Barbie they created for the sorority's Centennial celebration last year was a big success commercially and PR wise.
However, the reviews inside and outside the Afrosphere about Mattel's announced intention to make their iconic doll more Afrocentric have been mixed as well.
I own nine Barbies of various shades, but they still have the same Eurocentric Barbie nose and lips. In addition, the dolls have substituted light brown, brown and green eyes for blue.
Well, if they want a better idea how to do it besides take their stock Eurocentric doll with straight hair and make it slightly darker, they need to surf on over to Tabloach Productions and peep the retooled custom Barbies Loanne Hizo Ostlie does.
It may seem insignificant to some of you reading this post, but when you are a minority, you have to constantly be on guard against the negative messages that the dominant culture constantly and insidiously bombards at us and our children.
So yeah, I'm definitely loving and feeling these Afrocentric Barbies.
H/T Womanist Musings
Those beautifully diverse dolls are wonderful. To call them Barbies is to do them disservice. Personally, I disdain all Barbies and their pro-anorexic design.
ReplyDeleteBut I can appreciate where you're coming from. Accurate and positive representation of minorities in mainstream culture is important.
I'll take Neil deGrasse Tyson (I love that man!), Derrek Pitts, Tyler Perry, Queen Latifah, Bill Cosby and Spike Lee (and their diversity of perspectives) over any Barbie any day.
Probably not fair of me to compare a piece of plastic to a successful human being, but that's me.
Great post, BTW.