The makers of Barbie have launched a range of black dolls - with fuller lips, a wider nose and more pronounced cheek bones.
It is the first time toy manufacturers Mattel have sold a non-white doll that is not simply a painted version of the classic blonde figure.
Designer Stacey McBride-Irby, who is black, said she wanted to create a line of figures that would better inspire her six-year-old daughter and millions of other dark-skinned children.
Designer Stacey McBride-Irby and the new range of black dolls she created
‘I want them to see themselves within these dolls, and let them know that black is beautiful,’ she said.
The figures, Grace, Kara, Trichelle, each have her own style and interests and a little sister she mentors: Courtney, Janessa and Kianna.
The original Barbie also has a little sister named Skipper.
They are also designed to be education and career-minded rather than reflecting the traditional stereotype interests of hip hop music and sport.
The So In Style range of dolls, which hit shops in time for Christmas, have varying skin tones - light brown, chocolate, and caramel - and Trichelle and Kianna have curlier hair.
Black Barbie first hit the shelves in 1980 – but with white features shared by many of the dolls following her.
Today’s launch prompted many black women to praise Mattel for its efforts.
Andrea Slaughter, 38, a mother of two in Newnan, Georgia, said she likes how the designer highlighted values that are critical in the black community, such as education and mentoring.
Sheila Adams Gardner, 41, a mother of three in Woodbridge, Virginia, praised the varying skin tones. She said when her daughter was 4, she became very self-conscious about being lighter than everyone else in her family.
Designed to inspire: The dolls are education and career-minded to be role models
‘She has always had African-American dolls, but rarely dolls with skin like her own,’ she said. ‘Often the lighter dolls were Hispanic or
Indian.
'It was very heartwarming to look at a series of African-American Barbies and hear my daughter, now ll, exclaim: "she looks like me!"'
But some say the dolls with long straight hair are not ‘black enough’ and do not address the beauty issues that many black girls struggle with.
Black U.S. comedian Chris Rock highlights the issue in his upcoming Good Hair documentary film, which shows African American women straightening their tight curls with harsh chemicals and purchasing thousand-dollar hair weaves.
‘Why are we always pushing this standard of long hair on our girls?’ asked Gail Parrish, 60, a playwright in Alexandria, Virginia, and a mother of four grown children.
‘Why couldn’t one of the dolls have a little short afro, or shorter braids or something?’
Mrs McBride-Irby said she originally designed all the dolls with long hair.
Criticism: Some claimed the dolls with straight hair were not black enough
Combing her Barbie’s long hair when she was a girl was the ‘highlight of my play experience,’ she said.
She was advised to create some dolls with curlier hair, so she did.
There is a So In Style hairstyling set so girls can curl, straighten and style their dolls’ hair over and over.
That is troubling to Sheri Parks, an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland in College Park, because it actively involves girls in the process of straightening hair. She worries that it reinforces the message that there is something wrong with natural hair.
‘Black mothers who want their girls to love their natural hair have an uphill battle and these dolls could make it harder,’ Parks said in an e-mail.
Aside from the hair, some black women are concerned about the dolls’ thin frames. Barbie, which celebrated her 50th birthday in March, has for years come under fire for promoting an unrealistic body image, with her long legs, tiny waist and large breasts.
While white girls also deal with body-image issues, Kumea Shorter-Gooden, co-author of Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America, believes Barbie has a more negative impact on black girls.
They are already struggling with messages that ‘black skin isn’t pretty and our hair is too kinky and short,’ she said.
Despite those complaints, Mattel seems to have gotten several things right.
Mattel doesn’t release sales figures. But Michelle Chidoni of Mattel said the dolls are resonating with girls of all colors and ages.
The line will be expanding next year with Rocawear clothing, new dolls Chandra and her little sister Zahara, and Darren, who will have a little brother he mentors.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1219257/Barbie-launch-black-doll-look-like-real-people-having-fuller-features.html#ixzz0TV9cj4MI
Barbie launch first black doll that is NOT just a painted version of white doll
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