Barbie and Race

This year Barbie is celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the Dolls of the World Collection. Barbie dolls from seven continents and 40 countries are currently being shown as an exhibit at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum from June 16th-August 15th in their "native" dress as noted on Barbie.com. The dolls shown on Barbie's website are dressed in costumes, not the clothing that most girls would wear on a daily basis. There are princesses and dolls dressed in traditional wedding attire. They are meant to be gazed upon, not played with as you would with a "regular" Barbie doll.

The first black Barbie doll was also introduced in 1980 along with the a Hispanic doll and an Oriental [sic] doll that was released the next year. (kattisdolls.net) Mattel was criticized for using the same body and face molds that they had used for the blonde Barbie to make the black Barbie doll. The Daily Mail, a magazine published in the UK reported that a new line of Barbie dolls (So In Style) had been been designed by Stacey MacBride-Irby that was not just a painted version of the white doll. Some folks believe they still do not look like black people. Chris Rock, a comedian, bemoans the fact that the dolls all have long hair rather than a range of styles that includes hair that is unstraightened and short. (www.dailymail.co.uk)

It is the early morning of 07/01/10 and I have been going back and forth from the Barbie.com website (including Barbie Girls), this post and some other websites for about an hour. Attempting to do two blog entries in one night is not advisable. I clicked on the dolls of the world collection on Barbie.com because that was the only evidence of non-white people that I had seen. I don't think they were made for play, but to be gazed at like fetishistic objects. I went to the Barbie Girls world and went back to the location where I created my avatar. Yes, I could change the shade of my skin, but I could not change my facial features. At first glance, it looks like there are seven choices for skin color. Upon close examination, I determined that there were actually only four choices. Three of the selections were the same shade of white that were paler than my fair skin. One choice was a little pinker. Another choice was beige. The final two selections were the same choice of brown. Most of the hair styles were straight and long. There were a couple curls thrown in for accent, but nothing that could be really called curly. I was pretty disgusted after examining the choices for my look more closely. I did get a friend request--now I have five Barbie Girl friends (and I don't know any of them). When I went to send a message, I realized that my choices were pretty sparse since they are all predetermined. I don't know if any of them are celebrating birthdays and Christmas is almost six months away. The other selections were just about as weak so I decided to put down my fancy phone with the beautiful skin (that looks much prettier than my real phone) and continue writing this post. My session timed out and now it says I am already logged in. Blargh.

Here is some of the messages that I received about race from visiting Barbie.com and Barbie Girls:

1. There was a dearth of images of people of color on Barbie.com. The only exception was a group of exotic dolls to be exhibited in a museum. It seems like white people are the only people who really matter. Even the pictures of real people were white.
2. Today's look is straight hair. You do not want to have curly and/or short hair.
3. Girls must have monolithic facial features regardless of race.
4. There is a limited range of skin shades.

Here is my question for the class:

What kinds of messages do girls learn about beauty and race from playing with Barbie dolls and interacting in Barbie Girls? What do you think Mattel should do (if anything) to counteract those messages?

Hello! Welcome to my blog.

First off, let me tell you a bit about the virtual world I decided to join. I am now a Barbie girl! I picked this world because I find Barbie culture fascinating. Barbie has reinvented herself more times than Madonna and she is still as much a part of the landscape of our society as she was back in the late 50s. The ability to connect with other girls my age via the internet was not possible when I was a kid. I am curious as to why this type of site is so popular.

I discovered that I had to include a parent's email so I emailed my mom first to tell her. Her response was OMG. I know I could have used one of my addresses, but I did not want to feel like I was cheating. Plus, I knew it would be a funny conversation point between us. I had to send her my username and password so I need to be on my best behavior. :) Mom has already sent an email to ask if this changes my birthday present wishlist because she saw some Barbie stuff at Meijer.

I created an avatar that is as close as possible to my real-life image. Sadly, there are no choices for different sizes. I was pretty geeked when I discovered that Mary Jane shoes were available because I am a huge fan bordering on the need for an intervention. And the one dress choice seemed appropriate. I don't think anyone would like at my avatar and say, "Wow, that looks like you," unless I told them first. Even then it might be a stretch. I was not able to copy my avatar to my blog. :( Google was not helpful either. I will figure out a way to post her. She is pretty awesome.