I just saw this and wondered what you all think....
"Unlike Black Barbies of yesterday that appeared to have more Anglo facial features and hair texture, S.I.S. vary in complexion, coiffs and physical attributes with fuller lips, distinct cheek bones and wider noses.The dolls which range in price from about $8 to $25 features fashion
forward BFFs Grace, Kara and Trichelle who are all about having a good time, but not before sharing their wisdom with the next generation. In the spirit of mentorship, McBride-Irby created a "little sister" for each of the dolls with diverse interests including music, math and science. Each doll's hair can be styled with the help of new Auqa curl technology which allows them to go from straight to curly with a spritz of a water bottle and hairstyling tools." for the whole article click here on Essence.com
While I appreciate the wider range of skin colors, why do most of them have the same long, straight barbie hair??? Even if you say that most black women relax, very few have hair that long, unless it's a weave. The only 2 dolls that have textured hair have loosely curled hair. Where's the type 4 hair? The fros? The afro puffs? The braids and barrettes and beads that are typical of little black girls?
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be claiming that these dolls are more realistic and representative than barbie, but when it comes to hair they completely dropped the ball.
that is so awesome!! I'm going to buy a few dolls
ReplyDeleteI agree Moni.
ReplyDeleteOverdue, but a welcome change.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but in all fairness little girls like to play with dolls that they can brush the hair and all that. my sister makes her white barbie dolls have nappy hair, i can't imagine what she'd do with the barbies who already have kinky hair...
ReplyDeleteI agree Chanel.....it would be kind of hard for little girls to do the hair of Barbies with Afros. If I am not mistaken there was a Beyonce Barbie doll with a Fro a couple of years ago.I am glad to see this change in dolls and I am really happy that while they did not go completely natural when it came to the dolls hair they gave them different textures. I will be buying a couple of Barbie dolls for the girls in my family.
ReplyDeleteI agree, when I had dolls it was always fun to brush their hair, so having a doll with a 'fro wouldn't be that much fun, cuz while I can comb through my kinky hair just find, it doesn't work quite the same on such a small scale. :P
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is, when I was growing up, I wanted dolls with light skin and dark hair like me, but the only Barbies that looks like that were either Asian or Latina, which I didn't really care about. Yeah, "woe is me," right?
I remember one time I was shopping and I picked up a doll that was theme for Quinceanera, and my mom said something like, "Oh, she's pretty...if only she were browner," which kinda broke my young impressionable brain a bit because the Latina doll was actually darker than me. I distinctly remember just looking at my mom like she was crazy.
/anecdote
Anyway, I think my point is that kids just want dolls that look like them or that they can relate to, which is what I was going for when I was little, so it's cool that there's so much more variety now.
I think this is a nice idea, but I agree the dolls with the "flowy hair" may just welcome little girls of color wish their hair could be like that as well...can't help but think that.
ReplyDeleteNice start tho, I suppose
It's progress but I guess, in Mattel's view, they needed the straight hair to sell. I saw the video where the designer descibed one of the dolls as having "curlier" more African American hair... (Not sure her exact words). My thoughts are really? Her texture is like a 2A! I've seen curlier hair on Caucasian barbies! But... Products still conform to mainstream media... I have mixed emotions... The hair is definetly not a good representation of who we are...
ReplyDeletethe hair isn't the only issue, they also seem to have the same rare body type as traditional Barbies, very tall and then with super long limbs
ReplyDeleteI want to know where the cornrows, twists, puffs, beads, barrettes, & snaps are too... That aqua curl technology... OMG. Trichelle? Don't they know how to use google? It may be an improvement, but it's far from "authentic" much less "accurate."
ReplyDelete