A comment by Dani (091010) on my First Thoughts on SiS Dolls (090618) got me looking a little bit more closer at the eyes of my African American dolls…
It is no secret that in America, the majority of African American people have some white ancestry and for that matter, a lot of white people have some hidden African ancestry too. This issue has been bought up yet again by the probing of the genealogy of the First Lady of the USA*. This extensive mixing of genes can result in some *colourful* features. It is no surprise to find African American people with naturally green, grey and blue eyes. It is also no surprise to find that MOST African American people have brown eyes (as do most white people), it is the dominant gene after all!
This might be more of a playline issue but… why are dolls made to show eyes of varying shades but not often enough the brown eyes that most humans have? I have always thought it was artistic licence, you can paint a doll’s face any colour you want! But if we are talking about representation then why are African American dolls made with eyes all colours of the rainbow instead of the colour of the earth? It has always been said, looking into someone’s eyes is like looking through a window to their soul… what if you’re looking into the wrong eyes? Are you looking into the wrong soul? (ok, I’ve just confused myself here too O_o)
look into my baby blues
lavender eyes... really?
My own personal collection are mostly of collector dolls so I haven’t found an obviously abnormal number of African American dolls with colourful eyes versus brown eyes…
are my eyes brown, amber or white?
AKA celebrating brown eyes
silkie brown eyes
What is your take on the eye colours of African American dolls? (I’ve just checked my Asian/Sth American dolls, again I generally only have the collector type ones and they all have brown eyes)
*Michelle’s Great-Great-Great-Granddaddy—and Yours by Henry Louis Gates Jr. @ The Root (091008)
Tags: african american, alpha kappa alpha, black beauty, brown eyes, genetics
Eye color for Black dolls … hmmm … it depends on the doll. Some dolls I see with blue or green or hazel eyes, I think, no biggie. Other times, I shake my head and wonder what the company was thinking.
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I think the reason for odd colors is that they try to get at least five or six different colors on each face. If they used dark brown features on a dark skinned doll, the features might not stand out enough to attract children.
I don’t know if that’s true in real life, but I think that’s the logic they’re using.
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Who really cares!!!There are a lot of mixed couples. There are a lot of African Royal Families in Africa. The difference is Africans from Africa exude extreme elegance and fantastic style and etiquette. They are not into all of these things. African women come in a wide array of skin colors and hues and eye colors and tones. The only difference between Africans from Africa and minorities here are they are confident in who they are and never even discuss these types of things and also not into beat boxes, chicks and nice cars. They are into education, classical music, opera and very high scaled activities and events. There have been African Princesses and Princes for ages,and they are millionaires dealing in high scaled businesses but they DO NOT have the same attitudes as do minorities here. They do not have time for these kinds of things . It is time to stop all of this and take pride in who you are individuals and began to carry yourselves as you should. These are some of the most beautiful Barbies in the world , if not the most beautiful ones and very reflective of African beauty as it includes a wide variety and array of all kinds of eye colors and skin tones and thats what makes you all beautiful.STOP COMPLAINING!! People in Europe pay thousands of dollars to get a tan, its a billion dollar industry!
Mod Note – your other comment has been deleted as it is almost the same as this one and it was in all CAPS – please don’t use all caps unless you want people to think you’re shouting. Thanks for commenting.
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Therese Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Nah, most people – this includes Africans, Asians and Europeans have features that are varying shades of browns. Nothing wrong with that… trees/wood are brown, rocks are brown, soil is brown, chocolate is brown and pretty much everyone will agree how great those things are.
I don’t know where your anger comes from, this blog post is an objective observation of existing dolls’ eye colours, that’s all.
BTW, royal does not always equal financial privilege. You also make it sound like Africa is one monotonous country. There are almost 50 nations that make up mainland Africa… please don’t lump all these different nations and their people into one tiny box.
Also, I have never ever seen any human being with lavender eyes… not even with Europeans.
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When I was little, I enjoyed gazing into the purple eyes of my pale-skinned Barbie. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a bit of fantasy, and it’s nice that the darker-skinned Barbies can have fun eye colours too
I agree that it is unusual to see playline dolls with chocolate brown eyes – from any brand of doll. I recently bought one of the Fashionista dolls (Sporty) to be a Barbie version of myself. She came with exotic and beautiful light brown and green eyes, like you would see from an Indian Miss World winner. I touched her up to have chocolate tones in her eyes and freckles on her skin, just like me. It’s a fun project to do with acrylic paints
I think that would be a cute gift idea for someone too – make them a Barbie that represents their looks fairly closely.
Before and after photo: http://pics.livejournal.com/seamstressy/pic/00003ayy/g5
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The gentlemen Heindrich Von Hochenbereger was partially right about how African Americans get caught up in such trivial things such as eye color, skin color, and hair texture. I’m Trinidadian and African-American and it is such a big deal for people here, when I visit my family over seas there are no boxes one has to fit into. furthermore it is a doll a fantasy, a vision translated into plastic for collectors. I like to collect unique fashion dolls and I love the European dolls with brunette hair, dark African, and Asian, they represent the variety of beauty in each and every human being. I also get where my other collectors are coming from due to the history of this nation and even now color is still a huge issue , so I get it, but I think we should just move on and enjoy these beauties. Love for us all
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