Most dolls have a white skin colour, including barbies. Even in Africa and in Asia, most dolls are white! Isnt it better if kids play with dolls they can relate to? One of my friends, who is a mother, mentioned that. She wanted to find a dark doll for her daughter (as she is dark), but was not able to get one! I find it weird ...
2007-02-08 19:37:39 · 16 answers · asked by MM 4 in Games & Recreation ➔ Toys
1) I am not a racist! Why is it that you are automatically accused of racism when you bring up a certain topic! I was just wondering why most dolls are white. This does not mean I am against white dolls!
2) How can you order a product if it is not there?
2007-02-08 19:48:16 · update #1
3) I have lived in many different countries, from Vietnam to Israel, USA, Europe and Rwanda ( and now in South Africa) and most dolls that I come across are white. So I do have a case here, I think.
2007-02-08 20:21:43 · update #2
This is a tough question. First of all, I can't tell you why there aren't more dolls of different ethnicities in other countries, but I can say why I think this is so in the United States. Other people are correct in saying it has to do with demand. I worked at a politically correct toy store for 4 years, and while we did order dolls of different ethnicities, we didn't order very many because they just didn't sell very well. Not only that, but the best company for these dolls went out of business (probably because they didn't sell to enough stores) during the time I was working there. After they went out of business it was very difficult to find another company that sold dolls of different ethnicities.
On a positive note, groovy girls (a doll line made by Manhattan) makes dolls that look like real little girls and come in all sorts of ethnicites on a regular basis, and they sell well, so hopefully they are here to stay.
2007-02-09 10:29:48 · answer #1 · answered by zoemisty13 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Black dolls were reasonably common when I was a child and I had several. I suppose it depends where most dolls are made and given that they are white (according to you) I am assuming that most are manufactured in countries where the majority of the population is white. I am certain that Barbie comes in an Asian version. I think you will find that most children in Africa and Asia do not play with white dolls from overseas simply because they would be very expensive and they have their own traditional toys.
2007-02-09 04:05:13 · answer #2 · answered by LillyB 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Many of the dolls that have been produced that are ethnic centered do not sell in the markets, they fail and it costs companies hundreds of thousands to make the molds, dyes, shipping costs, advertising, etc etc. If it keeps failing time and time again, why reproduce a failing product for a market that won't buy the product. It has nothing to do with racism, but supply and demand. More people buy white dolls, so white dolls are produced. Now if they stopped producing all white dolls all together and only offered ethnically correct dolls, eventually they would sell as that is all there would be to sell. Racism really has nothing to do with it, like I said, if there is a demand to be met, then a supply will be offered. No demand, no supply. And by demand I mean hundreds of thousands of people, not the hundred. The selling of the product has to offset the cost to create it.
2007-02-09 15:08:13 · answer #3 · answered by PDK 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I asked about this in India and was told dolls were supposed to be white. Maybe the colour of the dools is determined by what the purchaser wants. Certainly in the USA I saw a wider range of different coloured dolls.
As a child the only doll I had which wasn't white was bought for me in West Africa.
2007-02-09 04:32:25 · answer #4 · answered by freebird 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree it is difficult to find a variety of ethnic dolls and there are places you can order them from but they are very expensive. You can buy a black doll however all they have done is change the colour what they have not done is change the facial features.
I used to run playgroups and could have been closed down for not providing multicultural dolls/book/dresssing up clothes/cooking equipment . I had no problem supplying theses things my groups where multicultural however it cots us all our small budget as they are four times as expensive because they know they are specialized. That to me is a disgrace beings as though we live in multicultural society. Why should a white doll be cheaper than an colour doll??
PS: If your friend wants to buy a doll tell her to ask at her daughters nursary school to ask for their equipment catalogue she can take the details from this and will be able to place an order or school may let her via them providing she pays them.
2007-02-09 03:51:30 · answer #5 · answered by momof3 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First, I have noticed that they do not sell very well as the white versions. Even when discounted the dolls are hard to move from store shelves. I worked in retail. The store cannot afford to have merchandise that is hard to sell. Their business depends on the money gained prior to the next season to buy new merchandise to keep customers coming into their store. It is a liability to their profitability.
2007-02-11 01:30:11 · answer #6 · answered by maybf22000 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree it is difficult to find a variety of ethnic dolls and there are places you can order them from but they are very expensive. You can buy a black doll however all they have done is change the colour what they have not done is change the facial features.
I used to run playgroups and could have been closed down for not providing multicultural dolls/book/dresssing up clothes/cooking equipment . I had no problem supplying theses things my groups where multicultural however it cots us all our small budget as they are four times as expensive because they know they are specialized. That to me is a disgrace beings as though we live in multicultural society. Why should a white doll be cheaper than an colour doll??
PS: If your friend wants to buy a doll tell her to ask at her daughters nursary school to ask for their equipment catalogue she can take the details from this and will be able to place an order or school may let her via them providing she pays them.
2007-02-09 03:41:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Depends on where you shop the most. You are more likely to find ethnic dolls online rather than retail stores. Mostly because they are so rare they get sold out but if they are stocked on a regular bases then they won't sell.
2007-02-09 03:48:16 · answer #8 · answered by drew2376 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there are alot more ethnic dolls available now then say 5 years ago even the barbie doll range have an ethnic doll including bratz the sindy range also have an ethnic doll too its just the shops that supply them that choose which ones to stock.
2007-02-11 05:29:53 · answer #9 · answered by ? 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know how to fix the issue on store shelves, but if your friend is still looking for dolls for her daughter, try this site:
www.dollslikeme.com
2007-02-09 07:01:53 · answer #10 · answered by Jaye 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋