by Anti-Racist Parent columnist Dawn Friedman
Recently I wrote on my blog about trying to find an African American Polly Pocket for my 3-year old daughter. My efforts were only slightly successful – I did find a brown-skinned Polly, kind of. But she could more easily stand in for a white girl with an olive complexion. The comments on my blog and on other blogs made me want to talk more about why I want regular old popular dolls, like Polly Pocket, to step up to the plate and add many-hued faces to their product lines. To do this, I have to tell you some not-so-flattering things about myself.
When I was about eight or nine I found a doll that I wanted and the reason I wanted her is that she had dark brown hair (like me) and blue eyes (like me). It really bothered me that all the dolls back then – the 70s – were blondes. All those Baby TenderLoves I had (and I had a ton) had lemon meringue hair and big sky blue eyes and you know, it really bothered me. Ok, I was a little smug that the dolls’ eyes were blue (not hazel like my big sister’s) but what was with the blondes? I definitely felt (although I didn’t have the word) under-represented. Having a bunch of self-esteem in spite of myself, I was pretty willing to say that the doll manufacturers were the ones with a problem although in the back of my mind was the rotten idea that blondes really did have more fun and more value to boot.
Now at around this same time I spent a lot of time flipping through the Sears wishbook – you know that big fat catalog that came out around the holidays. There were the ubiquitous blonde dolls, of course, and I noted that some of these dolls had this little add-in picture to the side of the exact same doll only painted brown.
I got a very clear message from this: Black kids? Even less valued than brown-haired pink-skinned kids like me. Being a child raised on Sesame Street and Stories for Free Children meant that I didn’t think black kids had less value; in fact, good liberal child that I was, I decided I would be extra-nice to the poor black kids who lived in dirty city streets (like on Sesame) and who had to make do with Bless You Baby TenderLoves dipped in brown paint.
Yes, I learned my do-good racism young, nourished in part by the Sears wish book and its lack of ethnically diverse dolls.
And this is why I made sure that my kids (bio and adopted, white and black) had an ethnic mix of dolls (and Playmobil and books, etc.). In short my daughter has many dolls that look like her and quite a few that don’t. You might say – as people have said – that it’s enough to stock her room with these dolls and forego those Pollies. Only I disagree because to me it’s just like those Baby Tenderloves and their lemon meringue hair because it’s not just my daughter I’m worried about.
Personally I don’t like Polly Pockets. I don’t like their impossible-to-get-on shoes or their emphasis on fancy clothes or the “collect them all!” mentality but my daughter likes them and her friends like them, which means that Polly Pocket is a part of our lives. And the absence of a decent African American version (as detailed at Abebech’s blog here) means that lots of little kids are getting the message that I got pouring over that Sears wishbook: That non-white kids are not valued.
People sometimes think that the issue is about having the right kind of dolls and so they share (and I’m grateful for the sharing) sites like Dolls Like Me and MulticulturalDolls.com and the fabulous blog, Multicultural Toybox and that’s a help but still, what the hell is up with Polly Pocket? It’s not enough to have a toy ghetto – I want the multicultural dolls at Target. I want them at Toys R Us. I don’t want my kids to get by seeing non-white dolls shunted over to the side, one brown-skinned Cabbage Patch baby against a sea of redheads and blondes. I don’t want them to get the message that Asian children get one doll while white kids get three in the collection. I mean the Groovy Girls are swell and all but if you love Polly you’re not going to be fooled when someone shoves another Petula in your arms and tells you to quit crying over that sorry Shani.
Happily, retailers are starting to make changes even if it is the almighty dollar inspiring them. Kmart is launching a multicultural line of dolls because, “About one in three Americans is a minority, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.” In other words, multicultural shouldn’t be an alternative anymore.
Want to let the makers of Polly to know that it’s time to catch up with our kids? You can always do what I did and contact Mattel.
Dawn Friedman is a writer and mother to two children. Her articles have appeared in Salon.com, Yoga Journal, Brain Child and the Greater Good and she is the op-ed editor at Literary Mama. She is also the founder of OpenAdoptionSupport.com and since the adoption of her daughter in 2004 has become passionate about the need for adoption reform. She blogs at this woman’s work.
These thoughts run through my head whenever I stroll down the toy aisles with my kids. My daughter loves Barbie, but why are the brown-skin Barbies nothing more than brown colored Barbies? It’s the same old doll dipped in brown paint, essentially. I was happy to wander across a new set of dolls that are supposed to represent The Cheetah Girls. My daughter doesn’t know who The Cheetah Girls are, but that is really besides the point. The are the same size as Barbie, so to her they are Barbie dolls. The big difference is that they are each different – two are African American and two are Latina. And the molds are different for each of them – even down to the shape of their noses! Kudos to whichever toy company made them, but the makers of Barbie really need to take the hint.
And I won’t even go into the sexism of “Race to the Mall”…grrr….
An e-mail is going to Mattel on both counts – thanks for the link!!
hmmm.. I just was browsing the Mattel site and found a line of dolls called “American girl”:
http://www.americangirl.com/
these dolls are not teenage dolls (more like 6-10 years old) but come in all colours – can’t really tell from the photos but it looks like they have at least a couple of different face shapes. They also come in historical dress with stories of the times – slavery, native issues, the depression, world war II etc.
Much more expensive since most come with a DVD too but they have 25 variations…
SO perhaps praise for this line but panning the polly pocket?
Yeah, much as I hate the Bratz (and am thankful that my daughter is aging out of playing with dolls), they do at least have a fairly integrated population.
Dawn; did you see my doll alert post last month? Fisher-Price has a new line of dolls, Snap N’Style, that have many different dolls. While the AA doll has some kind of turquois colored eye, it should be noted that ALL of the dolls have randomly colored eyes. (Perhaps they didn’t want to pick one and alienate someone? Interesting.)
The reason Denise (and I) loved this doll is because she ACTUALLY has very curly hair, like Ariana, instead of wavy or straight hair.
Anyway, great post.
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I remember about 10-15 years ago there were many multicultural dolls on the market. Some with different skin tones and hair textures. In a variety of sizes. I saw them everywhere, even at our very rural Wal-Mart.
I’m kicking myself for not buying them. I haven’t seen any like them since.
I remember picking up an Integrity Toys doll at WalMart.
Now there’s nothing available.
Thanks for the post. I agree about dolls, like Barbie, etc. and was disheartened at the results of the social experiment re-do (where kids were shown 2 baby dolls, one White, one Black–the original experiment conducted in the late 50s-early 60s) and asked to choose the “nice” doll, the smart one, the pretty one, the one you want to be friends with…and the majority of the children (White and Black) chose the White doll. And along the same line, I heard a rumor that Disney was going to come out with a new movie that had an African-American heroine…and would subsequently have a new Disney princess doll. We have Mulan, Jasmine, Pocohontas and all shades of White girl, but not a Black girl. That’s what I’m looking forward to for my daughter…what do we do about it? Perhaps more than one mother asking (which I did several months ago), would get Disney moving forward. We need to advocate for our kids and the toys that are represented!
Thanks
marybethorama, I’ve been wondering that, too! I was teaching preschool then and working with kids in a shelter and so I bought a lot of those dolls. Now I wished I’d bought double! There was one little girl doll in particular that had a really great, adorable face and crinkly yarn hair. I think about her a lot — she was a terrific huggable doll. And what I remember about those dolls is that they were affordable. (And there was one boy with a flat-top haircut like the kind Theo had on Cosby! I wish I had that doll now!)
I think we’re about the same age. I remember how excited I was when a new Barbie came out with long brown hair. I begged for that doll. Between my blonde sister and myself we had a decent collection of Barbies, but once we got that one it became the favorite of both of us because it was unique.
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Yes, what is it with the toymakers? Are they all white men who don’t have daughters? Get with the picture, toymakers, and make your toys look like America.
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Quick comment… I took my 5 year old (white daughter) to TOYS R US to pick out a doll. Without hesitation, the only doll she asked for was a darling black baby doll with curly short hair and yummy chunky thighs! On the inside I was bBURSTING with pride that she picked that doll because It confirmed to me that I’m doing my job teaching her that ALL children are equal and beautiful. On the outside I didn’t show my overabundant pride in her choice because I didn’t want her to think she did something “special” by picking that doll… I want her to know/think that that doll is perfect. Its’ sad to me that not all children’s parents would be o.k. with a choice like that… in fact, even some of her little friends have made comments about it
She’s oblivious though and deeply in love with being a mommy to her new doll “Hailey”. And I will keep on educating my children about how beautiful the world’s children are.
Ryan
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My daughter loved a mixture of baby dolls as a child.
I think it’s a shame that Bratz are the “ethnic” Barbie — but they all wear low-rise pants and shiny lipstick and generally don’t portray a modest, little-girl demeanor at all.
We have an American Girl doll, Kaya, and I was VERY skeptical when my mother-in-law got her for my daughter. But we’ve read all the Kaya books that go with the doll, and I am really impressed with the historical detail and the perspective of the stories. Their “just like me” dolls also include dolls with textured black hair (rather than only smooth and shiny).
We have been interested in the Karito Kids dolls – contemporary girls from different countries around the world. http://kidsgive.com/
I just checked out the karit kids website. I like the idea but it skeeved me that the US kid was white and blond – this is still the stereotype of a “real American,” and that’s troublesome.
Interesting article, looks like you are going through some of the stuff I am going to in my search for toys for my kids. Although, I am not looking for Polly Pockets or Barbies for my boys I would like to find playsets that offer a variety of play figures. So far we have Fisher Price’s little people. This playset includes black, asian and white figures, as well as figures with a lighter brown skin tone mostly likely meant to be hispanic/latino because they either have straight or wavy hair. My boys have light brown skin and curly hair, but this is the closest we could find. I would like to buy a playset like Playmobil for them when they are older, but I am still searching for one with diverse play figures. I like Playmobil playsets which are made in Germany, but I have seen very few non-white figures in the Playmobil set to warrant the purchase. The idea that there can only be white prince, princesses, knights, Kings, Queens etc is very off putting to me. I went to great lenghts to search for and purchase a brown skinned Fisher Price Little People Prince figure, before I bought their castle playset for my kids. I am glad to see other parents are doing the same for their kids.
My son has pretty much outgrown his “Little People” – so during an early holiday shopping trip last week, I attempted to find some brown skinned male action figures (dolls, of course, but we don’t market them as such – no no no – if they’re for boys we need to call them action figures). All I could find were WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) figures – toys that idolize aggression. Has anybody had any luck in finding more positive kinds of action figures that depict boys/men with brown skin?
Playmobil Alert! they do have new “ethnic” families, but….
If Lego follows suit, we’re doomed to present-less birthdays.
The Asian dad carries a tourist camera, the Black child has a basketball (and his dad is dressed like a pimp in blackface), and the Latinos are called “Mediterranean”. I’m sure our 3yr old twin boys won’t notice, but our jaws dropped when we saw the catalog. I’m Black, DH is Latino, and some of our best friends are Asian.
And PP is right, there WERE more realistic toys and dolls back in the day. Go figure.
American girl is racist. My daughter was looking through their magizine but all i saw were white blond girls. I was very mad and i was looking for somewhere where people would hear my pain. I am hispanic and my daughter couldn’t find anyone who looked like her in the whole magizine. I was amazed and crushed She asked me why the just like me dolls didn’t look just look like her. There is not one american girl movie about people like her.She has no one to look up to and that pisses me off I hate racisim.
I created those dolls because of mothers like you! I love kids of all backgrounds and races. I am a multicultural/multilingual person and I do not see dolls representing the true flavor of US population. Therefore, check out my dolls and books at http://www.vannuzza.com
Please let me know what you think.
Cheers
I came across your site looking for historical figurines in polly pocket size. Hard to find. Anyway, I understand what you went though while looking through the Sears Wish Book (I wish they still made that!!), and I’m still very under represented. Hazel-eyed redheaded children with freckles are very unpopular in doll-making circles. Oh, you get the occasional goofy looking kids like Strawberry Shortcake, but the pretty ones are blonds or brunettes. Almost never redheads. The message I got was not that I was unwanted but that I was not pretty enough to bother with.
Thanks for this article. I was about to go on a quest for a AA polly pocket since I was frustrated with the stores. I thought I just hadn’t found the right store.