What Race is Your Babydoll?
I don’t think I’ve told you my age yet. No, no I haven’t. Good. But I can admit that I was one of those crazy kids hoping against hope for a Cabbage Patch Kid that frenzied Christmas in the mid-80’s. Yes, I am that young. ;)
I remember seeing them in the store in about October of that year. This was before most people even knew what they were. I told my mom, “This doll is so cute!” She said something to the effect of it being the ugliest doll she’d ever seen and why would anyone pay $14 for it? I think by the time of the frenzy, the base price itself had jumped $20 to around $35.
What does this have to do with ethnicity, you ask? Good question. Well, I remember in the heart of all the madness, there was definitely a prejudice occurring in the consumption of the dolls. Women (mostly) were fighting, screaming, pushing, and cussing other women for the dolls. For the white dolls. Now, I don’t remember any Hispanic or Asian Cabbage Patch kids back then, but I do remember rows and rows of black dolls lining the shelves, waiting for an owner. At least this is what was happening on the shelves of the stores near our home.
Now, I am not a white woman. I am not a black woman. I am a tan woman; I was a tan girl. (Hispanic, both maternal grandparents born in Mexico.) And yet, it made me so sad to see those dolls sitting up there ignored. Partly because I wanted one, and would have been thankful for any color Cabbage Patch Kid. And partly because, even then, I wondered how it would hurt little girls and boys that were black to see the dolls that were supposed to be representing them and their families being ignored and considered unacceptable. It still bothers me.
Which is why it puzzles me that I don’t go out of my way to buy dolls of an array of different nationalities and races for my own kids. It may just be that I don’t buy that many toys for my kids (they have plenty of grandparents and aunties to fill that need), but it doesn’t occur me to think about it.
If the voices that are heard are correct, and we’re a generation that is concerned with racial equality and good relations between races, we’ve got to make it happen through our children. And we all know how big an influence dolls, games, toys, and movies are to our kids. Why not start there?
I’ve often wondered why my mom didn’t buy my sister and me the black Cabbage Patch Kids. The town we lived in had no black people at the time. None. And not just out of coincidence. I think I would have gotten quite a few names called at me if I were seen with a black doll. Maybe she was trying to protect us. Or maybe, like me, she just didn’t think about it.
What about you? Do you go out of your way to have a United Nations feel to your toy box? Do you purposely only buy toys for your kids that bear resemblance to them? Do you not think about it? Please vote in our poll in the right sidebar!
Tags: children, dolls, kids, multi-ethnic-toys, toysRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Children's Toys, Play Library Polls
4 opinions for What Race is Your Babydoll?
Deb L
Jul 26, 2006 at 9:13 am
My mom gave me her Barbie doll when I was little. I still have it. She’s the color of coffee-with-creamer and has black hair. I also have a Cyndi (sp?) doll, who is definitely white with very blonde hair. I remember Mom making rag dolls, with yarn hair, for my brothers. Boy dolls, with coveralls and button-down shirts. hehehe. She couldn’t find boy dolls in the stores, and my kid brothers really wanted dolls. I think a lot of boys do, and given a chance they enjoy nurturing a doll as much as girls enjoy driving trucks through mud.
I haven’t bought dolls for my boys. I haven’t actually thought about it much, honestly. lol. I have looked at dolls in the toy store though, and it seems like a lot of the “dolls of the world” type dolls, are meant as collectibles and not as something to be loved and played with.
Kerri Aldrich
Jul 26, 2006 at 9:29 am
Deb: True, the dolls seem to be more collectibles if they are intentionally “international.” I definitely see more variety of colors on the dolls today than when I was younger. How cool that your mom made those dolls for you guys! I remember a lot of moms making the Cabbage Patch Kid dolls when we were little. In fact, anytime the CPK conversation comes up, at least 2 or 3 ladies in the group say, “My mom made me one of those!” I might try it myself, but I don’t know that I could create anything that would be recognizable to my children as a doll! :)
Rantz Grotto
Jul 28, 2006 at 10:33 am
I never had dolls when I was a kid. I was a manly boy. I had Action Figures! I guess I never thought about race for them because with action figures you were going for sets. If I wanted every Star Wars figure I needed to have Lando, Chewy, Guido, and Leah (And what boy didn’t want Leah?). I was not into GI Joe or HeMan but I think there were other races in those. I guess it never was an issue for me. I do though firmly remember a black CPK that was part of the wrestling cheer squad that the parents put together or maybe it was adopted by my high school girlfriend (and thus NOT part of any cheerleading squad).
Kerri Aldrich
Jul 30, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Rantz: You were a manly boy? What happened? heehee. Just kidding. Of all my Strawberry Shortcake dolls, I only remember one that was not white. But that was a big step back then, I think.
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