The final word is in (strange since it’s only July still) and the Barbie Silkstone line of dolls, also officially called the Barbie Fashion Model Collection is to consist of 9 dolls this year.
First, there was the Palm Beach line of dolls -
- Swim Suit
- Breeze
- Coral
- Honey (Honey is the DOG!)
- Sugar Daddy (Sugar is the DOG!) – poor dude got shelved due to conservative complaints and never made it into real life…
2010 Palm Beach Line
Then the Mad Man line was announced…
- Betty Draper
- Don Draper
- Joan Holloway
- Roger Sterling
At least this line had MALE DOLLS… who weren’t cancelled! Can you imagine Don and Roger getting cancelled anyway? hmmm… is it because they are philandering jerks and most definitely not gay?
2010 Mad Men Line
And finally, since this year is the 10th year anniversary of the Barbie Fashion Model Collection, a commemorative doll is going to be issued. As of this date, this doll has not been made public yet but there is word that she is very blonde with sparkling blue eyes. Definitely not African American.
10th Anniversary Silhouette
Why does it matter if an African American doll is included in this line this year or not. This line is considered by many collectors to be the high end range of adult collectable barbie dolls. To exclude the representation of an African American doll is very telling… and not in a good way.
It is definitely a shame for there to be no African American dolls in the collection. I do love the Mad Men dolls though.
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Should I ever expect more from Mattel?
dbg
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Therese Reply:
July 26th, 2010 at 10:41 am
yes you should! for a company that relies on an “All American” image… to exclude African Americans is ignorant and insulting – people who have built America and in modern day make up about 13% of the population… yes you should expect Mattel to keep up with this fact.
I’ve heard arguments that AA imagery do not go well with the 1950′s high society image of the Barbie Fashion Model Collection, which is a load of crock. Firstly, that is both classist and of course racist! And of course there were rich black people in the 1950′s – just very rare… I mean, there are vintage photos of black girls in the 1950′s in debutante ball dresses – I’m sure many collectors would love to see a lovely AA doll in a big floofy pastel dress (even if that isn’t exactly my cup of tea) – big floofy pastel dresses should not only be reserved for the blonde belle of the plantation… geez, we all should know by now that not all daughters of plantation owners were white.
I think more Americans should be able to own their history (indigenous, black, white) instead of working so hard to deny it. Some/lots of the history is hurtful and that sucks… but it sucks more to be running away from it. The Spanish aren’t still moping over the Inquisition and that was a pretty horrific part in history. Even the Germans are working to mend the wounds that took place last century. Mainstream America works too hard to discredit it’s own foundations. It’s kind of really weird if you think about it too hard…
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I know Therese, I allowed my frustration to show. This sort of blatant deletion makes it difficult to conceal it. Yes, there were definitely well-to-do AAs in the 1950s and prior.
As long as people accept what’s available in the absence of what they truly desire, things will remain the same.
dbg
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There seems to be fewer African American dolls and African American roles in prominent mainstream movies (Inception, etc.) since President Obama won the election. Just my take – shrug. Lots of backlash from that appointment.
I love the SIS dolls and accept that possibly the poor economy may have had a role in only the ONE face mold being used, BUT it’s like the SIS dolls existence means there needn’t be a regular African American doll (like Christie, Nikki, etc.) in the main Barbie lines.
The lack of Asian American dolls since year 2000 puzzles me, too. For a while, Mattel would include at least ONE Asian American doll. The Asian American population hasn’t decreased so why?
There are more Hispanic dolls though. Usually, Barbie or the “White” main doll in recent series, is paired with a Hispanic doll. (Thinking Moxie Girls and the elusive run Sasha.)
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Therese Reply:
July 28th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Maybe *they* think that *we* are getting too much – maybe they think the Presidential role should be enough to shut ALL the PoC up for a while… they forget that *we* are NOT the President… he is his own person. We’re all individuals. *They* constantly forget that.
There is still a strong presence of segregation about – it is like *they* would prefer to live in a parallel world rather than a world that is completely integrated with all its elements.
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I stopped collecting Mattel in 2003. Since then I have purchased one doll. I finally decided that I was tired of begging them to take my money. I was starting to feel the same way about Integrity but this year they produced four AA dolls and Natalia.
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@ D7ana
I want to see Inception so bad but like you said, a lot of African American are not into mainstream period! For one lets look at the music; They only black artist you see are Rihanna and Beyonce and they keep getting whiter every day! I love the SIS line but, why am I buying 12.99 for the dolls with the same old bodies! I never like MadMen!
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I think of Rihanna as the one beat up by boyfriend. Beyonce is okay. But they’re both past my time, LOL.
I don’t buy Silkstones so I’m not sad about limited AA dolls, but overall …
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It may have more to do with the A.A. Silkstones not selling all that well.
As much as we might want them dolls like Sunday Best and Model # 5 sold much more slowly than other Silkstones.
Knowing Mattel they probably figured that since the Palm Beach dolls are all tan anyway no one would notice or care.
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What color is the Palm Beach Breeze doll? I wanted to purchase her because I thought she was AA, but can never really tell from the small pictures. I assumed it was an AA doll because they have a blonde and a brunette in the Palm Beach collection (typical and limited as usual-blonde, brunette, and AA-if they even make several color versions).
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Therese Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
well, I believe “officially” the doll is “tanned caucasian” but really, she can be whatever you want… she’s Latina for me
and believe it or not – the Palm Beach dolls all share the same “tanned caucasian” skin tone – any percieved differences in tones is an illusion due to the various outfit, make up and hair colours.
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[...] Beals with the FLashdance Barbie, the missing shades of black with regards to dolls, as well as the lack of Black Barbies in this year’s Silkstone Collection, the author of Dolls of Color addresses black dolls from a sociological perspective that is truly [...]
I don’t know if anyone is still interested in continuing the discussion, or even writing about this subject, but I have to add my two cents.
I’ve never collected Silkstones, and don’t collect Barbie’s anymore. That scale
I recently purchased the summer issue of FDQ and am saddend that the only Black dolls in the magazine, are 2-3 rag dolls. It seems that over the last 2-3 years there are just fewer and fewer Black dolls.
I collect Tonner dolls, and while he does have: Esme, Friday Foster and Zoe Washburne, his line is mostly white. I love that 1/4 scale and keep hoping for more diversity. I have written to Robert Tonner and he responded by saying he’s always looking for new Black characters but it’s hard. I don’t know if that’s really the case, or is it that Black dolls don’t sell. I use to hear that male dolls didn’t sell, but they have a lot in his collection.
Yes, there are people in this country who want to run away from the past…just don’t talk about it. All it says to me is how little we’ve learned from our history. The only (vinyl) Black male doll in 1/4 scale is Russell Williams. Sorry I just don’t get into resin dolls.
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