When I was little, my mom never let me play with white dolls or Barbies of any race. My sole interaction with those dolls were at my friends’ houses. I didn’t get it when I was young, but it makes sense to me now, and if I had children, I would do the same thing with them.
It’s all about developing a positive self image. The no-Barbie rule was because my mom felt she was too “developed” for a child to be playing with. As I’m writing this post, I’m thinking I should call my mom (or talk to her when I see her this weekend) and ask her firsthand, as an adult, if what I believe she was thinking was actually true. I’ll update this post after interviewing her.
This post was prompted by bumping into a site called http://real-kidz.com/ that sells dolls of bi-racial heritage. I can’t remember how exactly I got there, but I can only guess I somehow linked to it through the Mixed Chicks products website.
While not officially declared, I am somewhat of a doll collector. I loved playing with dolls as a child and only gave it up in middle school because it was uncool at some point, but I’ve kept nearly all of my favorites. Somehow, by saying that I collect dolls conjures up images of grannies with plastic furniture and a hutch with pricey dolls from QVC in it. However, instead, I’ll choose to say it loud “I’m nappy, a doll collector (of sorts), and proud!”
One of my pastimes, when my husband and I travel abroad, is to purchase a doll representing that country. I guess at some point I need to find a neat storage option, but that’s when the grannies with plastic furniture feeling sets in.
So, nappies and nappy-nots, did your parents place any doll restrictions on you as a child? I’m especially wondering about the Barbie thing because I feel like I was the only kid on the planet with that restriction.
Written from the perspective of a thirty-something African American woman, Affrodite's Adventures In Nappy Hair will make you think, laugh, cry, and take action. Check it out! Blog topics include natural hair care, African American perspectives in culture/pop culture/politics, women's empowerment, stories from Corporate America, current events, and more!
This is a hilarious blog even if you did not mean it to be…it is interesting to hear how you remember things when you were little. I don’t remember having any restrictions of what type of doll I could play with but then again there were not alot of variety either like now…
I had Barbies and other dolls of whatever color was given to me, including Hawaiian Barbie. There weren’t any restrictions.
Thanks crazyforbarbie and Bianca for your comments and showing me some blogger love.
So far, I still feel like the only person on the planet who had this restriction. None of my friends had this restriction growing up and they seemed to turn out fine…I guess.
If the tables were turned and a white family was only allowed to play with white dolls, that would be front page news. But, I guess our history here in America coupled with the fact that there plenty more opportunities for the white community to find visual identity connections would make something like this essentially unnecessary.
Hmmm…at the risk of unleashing my inner geek, I can’t help but to think that this would be a great thesis topic for someone in sociology or one of the social sciences, or just a class project. Actually, I think there was an email circulating around a while back where they show kids different images and have them pick what’s nicer or prettier or something. If I find it, and it turns out to be what I remember, I’ll include in my upcoming follow up post on this topic.
Thanks again for sharing.
I saw the PBS special where the child picks the “good doll” and the Black child always picked the white doll. then the interviewer would ask “what color doll do you look like” and the Black child would point to the Black doll, the same doll she called bad. Scary huh?
That’s EXACTLY the one that I was talking about! Thanks, Aisha!
My mom didn’t place any restrictions on the dolls that I played with, but then again I don’t really remembering playing with dolls for that long [herein lies the problem with my childhood - I grew up too fast]. I do have a vague memory of my grandmother (rest her soul) asking my sister and me which babydoll we wanted and we both picked the white one – these were the babies that were so real that they looked like actual infants. I also remember as a little girl wishing I was white at one point because I thought my life would be easier. Heavy!
On a side note: One thing my mom did for us when we were little [that I think has molded me into the lover-of-all-people-person] that I am today is forcing us to color everything in different colors when coloring with crayolas (people, animals, cars, etc).
Thank you mother! You saved me ^_^
I remember my white mother giving me an anatomically correct black baby boy doll that I carried around naked. I’m sure it raised a few eye brows in the mostlyl white suburb I grew up in the late ’70s
@Anonymous- LOL, I love your story! Good for your mom. Actually, you prompted me to think that it’s a good idea for children to play with dolls of varying ethnicities during those formative years.
Thanks for posting!
ALL I EVER HAD WAS A WHITE DOLL I DID’T REALIZED THEY MADE BLACK DOLLS UNTIL I WAS TOO OLD FOR A DOLL.I THINK THE STORE OWNER ONLY ORDERED WHITE DOLLS I WAS FROM A SMALL RURAL AREA.AND DON’T REMEMBER SEEING ANY IN STOCK WHEN I WAS A CHILD, BELIEVE ME I HAVE A GOOD MEMORY. I CAN REMEMBER TH PAPER DOLLS, WHAT D THAT TELL YOU AND I AM AGE 45