Issues with race and dolls?

Question

I once worked at Mcdonalds when I was younger and I noticed something odd. Whenever we gave away the little barbies sometimes we would run out of a certain race (They were only Black or White). Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians never had a problem with recieving a White doll for their daughters but Whites acted irrationally when we ran out of White dolls, and refused dolls of another race ALWAYS! It absolutely never failed. Why is this? Especially since possessing dolls of a different race is scientifically proven to help children with dealing with race. As a native american, I rarely if ever possessed a doll that looked like me. Did I miss something?

Answer 1

I'm not sure why that is. I always requested the Barbies of different ethnicities when I was little--I thought they were prettier than the blondes, which looked too much like my sister.

Perhaps it is an issue of being a minority--the white parents, perhaps, were not accustomed to their children playing with "different" dolls, while the parents of other ethnicities were used to it (due to lack of choice) and just accepted it as normal.

Answer 2

Whites do not really like other races and cultures, as I have said and will continue to say this for many moons to come. This is why we have racism. I mean does it really matter what the doll's race is. When I was growing up, I had white dolls and black dolls to play with, I even used to play with little perfume bottles and pretend they were dolls and I used to have fun. Race never came into it at all. I think the same situation is playing out with the bratz dolls versus barbie, the bratz dolls which are multicultural and fashionable are seen as ugly, ghetto, trashy and tarty, in which they are not, I have not seen one bratz doll with a cleavage exposed. Although barbie on the other hand is seen as sweet and lovely, not tarty, but the funny thing is that during the 1980's barbie never used to come with any panties underneath her skirts, nobody complained and nobody said that she was tarty and could lead girls to doing the same. So why all the fuss with the bratz dolls and their clothing, they are not tarty, just fashionable updated dolls. I very much doubt that these little girls who are playing with them now, will want to dress like that in years to come. The clothes will be probably seen as old fashioned. Overall white people just want to associate and surround themselves with people, things and objects which look like them most of the time and see anything such as, multicultural dolls, as corrupting their children.

Answer 3

Our society has always emphasized that white women are the standard of beauty. When minorities received White dolls, it wasn't a big deal because that's the norm. When the White girls received the black dolls it represented unattractiveness. To have a doll whose pigment was different than the white doll but had the same features as the white doll would disprove and complicate any racist, bigoted propaganda permeated through our society. Several studies have been done on the impact of beauty standards and self esteem using dolls. I can't think off the top of my head, but I believe the scientists were named Hopson. They performed several case studies involving black children and dolls and which they thought were most beautiful and why.

Answer 4

To generalize that all whites do not like other races is racist. I am white and some of my best friends are of different races. There is a black friend of mine that had qualities of character and physical ability which I appreciate. His ability on the basketball court was like poetry in motion. We both did not choose the color our skin at birth. Therefore, it has no merit in my thinking. This is just one example from personal experience. I can only speculate why they refuse them. Only they know the real reason. If that is the toy that comes with it and the child wants the happy meal with a toy, I'd buy it. That is not a difficult decision to make for me. It is only a toy!

Answer 5

That's really sad.

Me and my sisters played with Barbie dolls, and we couldn't stand just having one race. My sister was actually pretty anal about it. Especially with Barbie, all the dolls' faces look the exact same unless you do buy another doll of a different race.

I guess those parents were trying to send a message to their kids.

Answer 6

That is really sad I always had dolls, Barbie’s that were black or white growing up. I didn’t have any other races but back then I think there was fewer available you just either had white or black. I played with both

Answer 7

When I was a kid, I had a black barbie doll. (I only had two barbie dolls as a kid.) My parents never had a problem with me having a black barbie. I really don't see the issue with having dolls of all races. The parents that complain are ignorant.

Answer 8

Thank Darwin and the 'theory' of evolution for that. It is, of course, a white supremacist theory. The other races didn't object because they were getting a doll of a better race. The Whites objected because they were getting a doll of an inferior race, implied in the theory. Have you noticed that many famous and successful black men marry white women rather than black women? Why? If you say that's where they find love, what does that say about black women?

Answer 9

That is a sad reality, and it does not surprise me in the least. Saying that, I actually did make sure that my children had dolls that represented many different races. I felt it was a way to make diversity normal in there life's, which it is and should be.

Answer 10

That's sad. Diversity training should be mandatory in schools-maybe that would help some of these kids have a different mindset than their racist parents.