I think that whoever thought of coming up with this Ethnic Filipino Barbie line should have their heads examined. These dolls are unnerving, to say the least.
Barbie is–and always will be–an American icon. She has her place in the Plastic Toys Universe and nobody can take that away from her. But, really, I don’t think we should go too far and just color her tan (or what-have-you) and pass her off as an ethnic anything. Ethnic, my ass! Notice how the supposedly native Filipino Barbies are but tanned versions of their blond mama.
It isn’t just Filipino Barbies that have the blond Barbie’s face. Take a look at this other Barbie:
Forget about inflicting little girls with body image issues. Hell, this practice dumbs down humanity in general. Let Barbie stay blond and let the rest of the dolls look racially accurate. God knows, we can’t all be made from the Barbie mold.
And, hey, whoever said it was a crime to have a doll that’s not the same race as you? Besides, you don’t see Russian doll makers attempting to come up with matrioshkas of different races, do you?
1 response so far ↓
cyberpunk // November 13, 2007 at 2:04 pm |
I seriously don’t know how to react to those ethnic barbies…they give me Twilight Zone vibes…they’re brown, dark-haired, and they’re wearing ethnic clothes…but they don’t feel ethnic at all…
I wish people will stop with the political correctness crap. What’s next, a lesbo Barbie? (maybe there’s one already)
Body image? They should release Barbies that are fat, flat-chested, or pimply. Or maybe an amputee Barbie. Or trailer trash Barbie, complete with greasy hair…the possibilities are endless!