Dolls-rant!

[sunnydays]

I just need to vent/rant! I have been looking for a new baby doll for my daughter for Christmas and I am just disgusted with the choices available! I have been to every store I can think of and most of the dolls look the same..white, blond, blue eyes. There are the occassional black dolls and rarely you see an Asian doll or Hispanic. And that's it! Is this representative of our society and specifically our children? I think not! Half the world is made up of brown people...not white, not black...but I have not encountered one brown baby doll! Toys R Us in particular disgusted me...every single doll they had was white. The daycare supply store was the best...they had black, white, Asian and even one Native American doll. I guess my frustration is just that they are all so clearly deliniated by race/ethnicity. My daughter is biracial and I would love to have a doll that looks a little bit like she does...but she does not see herself represented at all in dolls, cartoons, etc. And I hate having to make a choice...the black doll or the white doll...(I'll probably have to buy both!). Just needed to vent! I may need to start my own line of dolls made for real life children who come in all different colours, ethnicities, mixtures, etc ;)

[Inspired by Reggio]

I hear ya ~ the options are very 'bias' in what is offered for sure .... it is the common misjudgement of society that the most attractive are the blond haired blue eyes people and sadly it is not just in 'childhood' but all the way through media and so forth .... how many women die they hair blond or wear contacts that are 'tinted' to change their eye color and so forth and well WHY do they do that but the years of preconditioning in all sorts of social messages that this is the 'desireable thing to be'!

Yes it is very frustrating for those who are of other shades of skin to find dollies or other expressions that are representative ... not just shades of skin but hair color, eye color, freckles and other distinguishing differences between ourselves!

However Scholars Choice has a wonderful selection of Lots to Cuddle babies that come in various 'shades' of skin tones ... I have several for my program.

http://childcare.scholarsch oice.ca/catalogsearch/result/?q=multicultural+bab ies

[mimi]

As a little girl in the sixties, I had a doll that looked of African descent. I didn't think anything of her skin colour and tight curls until some adults would point out how odd it was to have a doll of colour. I thank my Dutch grandparents (who lived through world war II and all its racial attrocities) to encourage racial diversity and acceptance to their granddaughter. Remember, again this was the sixties. I agree, I don't see much improvement from when I was little unless the manufacturer makes a point of making dolls of colour, but then when I see it as a point they are making I find it insulting. I remember thinking as a child that the blond/blue eyed/white skinned dolls were kind of boring. :)

[sunnydays]

Thanks for the link Reggio! I actually bought one of those Lots To Cuddle dolls yesterday at Wal-Mart...I guess it was the Hispanic one because it had brown hair and eyes...they are just too cute! I was looking for the African American one...maybe I will try Scholar's Choice...although it was a whole lot cheaper at Wal-Mart ($23 instead of $45)...I still have to check some other Wal-Marts to see if I can find one...we'll see!

[Inspired by Reggio]

Oh cool ~ yes if Walmart carries that line than you might be able to specifically order one that you want from the collection ~ and yes I agree that Scholars Choice is very marked up as they cater to 'teachers' and therefore think that they have never ending government budgets to spend on their classroom materials :rolleyes:

I admit I only shop when they are having a sale or I get a coupon in the mail ... I tend to hold out for their Midnight madness sales to buy stuff for the program and stock up for the upcoming year cause often they will have 'everything in the store is 30% off' and than that makes them more comparable to other places ;)

[playfelt]

Did you check at All About Kids. They could probably order something from their catalogues if they don't have them in stock. Having multicultural items is on the requirement list for daycare centres and I know many suppy catalouges carry various items including dolls, puppets, etc.

[sunnydays]

Yes All About Kids has black dolls, Asian, native American, and white....but I have not seen anywhere a doll that is somewhere in between...just brown. I didn't really like the ones at All About Kids because they had hard bodies and were not so cuddly...my daughter is only 2 1/2 and likes to hug the baby dolls. But she doesn't tend to play with the plush ones much...all the kids seem to prefer the ones with plastic faces that look more real.



Did you check at All About Kids. They could probably order something from their catalogues if they don't have them in stock. Having multicultural items is on the requirement list for daycare centres and I know many suppy catalouges carry various items including dolls, puppets, etc.

[sunnydays]

Oh...and don't even get me started on the lack of boy baby dolls...why do all the dolls have to be girls and dressed in pink?

[Mamma_Mia]

I finally found a olive skin toned, brown hair, brown eyes & a peach dress doll for my daughter at a local dollar store! She loves it because it "looks" like her. Its so frusterating, I agree. I'm not a fan of the pink e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. I mean come on....purple? blue? green? etc etc. get creative people!

[lainey76]

Sunnydays , have you looked at the waterbabies line of dolls ? Here is the link we bought a "white " one for A's birthday and she loves it ... here is the link

http://www.playmatestoys.co m/brands/waterbabies

We bought her princess one at Canadian tire .

[bright sparks]

Check out Mastermind toys. I was in their Burlington store back in November and bought a bunch of different ethnic dools and abled dolls and they had a great selection.

[bright sparks]

Scholars choice for sure have baby boy dolls. Maybe not in every store but online or in the catalogue. I actually bought one for one of my dcb's birthday gifts as he is obsessed with playing with the dk dolls. Mum and dad were super good about it too.

[playfelt]

Other catalogues to try would be something like Wintergreen or Flaghouse which would be expensive but would also have the different ability types too. When she gets to the playing with "paper" dolls stage I do have various multicultural dolls with the felt that I sell. But for now for the "real" thing I guess the only place I have seen a good selection would be in the teacher/education type catalogues as compared to the stores. You might have some success online as I'm sure there is a demand for them in the US.

[Wonderwiper]

Hi! There are a lot of US online stores selling dolls. mixedchicks.com has a couple of inexpensive ones. From what I have seen, many are quite expensive. Just google mixed race dolls and you'll find lots of options!

[kidlove]

I reccently came across a line of dolls at walmart, of course I can't remember the name of the company but they were of many dif nationalities and part of the proceeds went to the country each doll was from, they were called something regarding "friendship or love" too cute though. They were not "babies" they were geared more toward a toddler, looked to be about 2-4 year and up, very well made though, nice little outfits and their dress fit their country, I think they may have been about 40-50$ not cheap but looked like really nice quality, similar to American Doll brand. ;)

[sunnydays]

Well, I finally broke down and ordered one from Scholar's Choice..it is twice the cost of the Wal-Mart ones...but they don't have the one I want at Wal-Mart! I searched all over online and found smoe nice ones, but I am a bit nervous about ordering from an unknown US company...so thought I'd play it safe....plus I bought some other things so I could get free shipping since they don't have the dolls in the stores (I checked). Now I just have to hope it arrives in time (said 2-5 days, but who knows?)! Thanks for everyone's input...it was really helpful! I am still disgusted with how all the dolls are categorized into specific ethnicities (black, white, Asian, Hispanic, etc)....there are many many people in this world who do not fit neatly into those categories!

[sunnydays]

I saw those online and they are really cute...maybe I will get one when she is older, but right now she loves the ones with realistic faces, but soft cloth bodies...easy to cuddle and hold :)



I reccently came across a line of dolls at walmart, of course I can't remember the name of the company but they were of many dif nationalities and part of the proceeds went to the country each doll was from, they were called something regarding "friendship or love" too cute though. They were not "babies" they were geared more toward a toddler, looked to be about 2-4 year and up, very well made though, nice little outfits and their dress fit their country, I think they may have been about 40-50$ not cheap but looked like really nice quality, similar to American Doll brand. ;)

[momof4inpink]

I shop at Education Station and they usually have a really good variety of dolls. My girls fell in love with some babies that I believe are called water babies, and of course Santa will be bring a couple this year. I loved how cute they were. Not sure if you have a store in your area, but they can be purchased on line as well I believe.
http://www.educationstation .ca/detail.php?id=100346