Barbie Controversy

[yarwel]

There was a "Japanese Ken" doll a while back but he wasn't very... authentic?
http://youbentmywookie.com/news/mattel-releases-the-first-ever-asian-ken-doll-and-disappointly-he-looks-like-hes-doing-cosplay-9985

[magkelly]

So far Japanese Ken is the only official Asian one I know of, though there is some debate as to whether or not the Brunette Basics Ken is actually Asian, Native American or something similar. To me he does look very NA actually. I really like him, so much so I have two of him. Japan Ken he gets modded a lot into a modern guy from Japan. So does Basics Brunette Ken.I'm kind of hoping that Japan Ken or maybe BB Ken ends up in the play line as the Asian guy, in nice modern clothes, but I doubt that will happen.

I'm kind of happy that they went there at all though. I never thought they would at the rate they were going. I can live with Japan Ken with the silly cosplay outfit gone. I mean to get him actually. Both my BB guys are good looking, could be taken for Asian or NA, and clothes isn't an issue. I have already dressed mine in dark jeans and muscle shirts, and stuff. Japan Ken will also go that route when I get him, though I'm thinking all leather for him. It's not the clothes that matter in the end. It's the sculpts and what you can do with them.

http://www.amazon.com/Barbie-Collector- ... B0042ESFES

http://www.amazon.com/Barbie-Collector- ... basics+ken

[DollyKim]

The generic term is Ambiguously Brown, like Dr Bashir on Star Trek or Word Girl, you don't know exactly where they're from and they fit in to society, they just happen to have more melanin in their skin than some people. Brown is the most common human eye color. Just make a doll darker than a brown paper bag with brown eyes and black and it could be from almost anywhere.

I have the second guy and he is a looker, it's just a bummer he's no more jointed than Deadwood. I like the newer Kens as opposed to the smiling guy from the 80s and 90s.

[magkelly]

The generic term is Ambiguously Brown, like Dr Bashir on Star Trek or Word Girl, you don't know exactly where they're from and they fit in to society, they just happen to have more melanin in their skin than some people. Brown is the most common human eye color. Just make a doll darker than a brown paper bag with brown eyes and black and it could be from almost anywhere.

I have the second guy and he is a looker, it's just a bummer he's no more jointed than Deadwood. I like the newer Kens as opposed to the smiling guy from the 80s and 90s.

BB Ken? He can fit on a Fashionista Ken body with a little help around the neck from some masking tape. All of my Basics boys have posable bods now. I like the BB body but I don't do non-articulated dolls anymore. I sacrificed a little bit better chest and butt for bendy arms and legs. This is one reason I am so vexed with how the play line dolls are going now though. I was hoping for more Ken dolls that near full articulation and now they're back to less in the legs again. I never did get AA Basics Ken. He was never in stock anywhere here and from the get go they wanted a small fortune for him online. I have the Blaine Ken aka Ben and two of the dark haired guy, but still I have no decent non-smiley AA Ken. I've been looking for years too, sigh. Every time, AA guys, it's all toothy smiles and when it's not you can't find them on the darned shelf!

[cirquemom]

I like the traditional costumes, but I can also see how it would be a good thing to show kids that these countries aren't just traditional or old fashioned. Maybe they could have made all the dolls all come with an alternate modern outfit. Then again, isn't the whole point to celebrate tradition?

Wouldn't a Barbie in an "alternate modern outfit" just be a plain old Barbie, regardless of if she is Latina, African-American, Asian, or Dutch? These Barbies are just showing very idealized versions of folk wear, that's all.
I've been to Mexico a number of times. With the exception of a few older Mayan women, I've never seen anyone just walking around in traditional folk dress. Just as I suspect Evelien doesn't go around wearing a little white lace hat and wooden shoes.

I've always loved dolls but was never a Barbie fan. I had one of the very first ones to come out- the brunette bubblecut. All of my friends had the blonde ponytail Barbie and I wanted that one, not one with short brunette hair. Plus I found her boobs kind of scary. I also had one of the first Kens- one of the fuzzy-headed guys. What a sap. When i did play with my Barbie, she hung out with my GI Joe- now THERE was a cool doll. All those joints, didn't have a simpering expression, and he had a full scuba outfit.
My daughters had one million Barbies. Since a Basic Barbie doll was pretty cheap when they were little, every birthday they would get at least a couple. My little daughter not only got her own, but inherited all of her sisters. The only ones she liked were the ones like Mulan and Jasmine. All of the other ones- she pulled their heads off and then tied their decapitated bodies to the trees. She's now 25, but every once in a while I still unearth one of these poor dead Barbies out in the garden.

[AnnetheCatDetective]

There was an Asian male doll put out by Barbie a while back. I mean, he was dressed as a Samurai, but he was gorgeously sculpted, and if one could find nice enough Ken clothes to put him in, he could be turned into a modern guy. I haven't seen him in a while, though... couple-few years ago, I guess.

And I wanted to thank the above poster for the link to that article on why black dolls matter-- it was a very interesting read!

I know even though I am white, when I was a kid, I had more black Barbies than white ones... I was not a blonde little girl, and had no positive feelings towards Barbie. I didn't relate to her at all, not the way my sister did (to be fair, she spent her whole life since collecting every kind of doll). Then I saw a black Barbie who was a vet, and she came with a little plastic cat, and she looked... I don't know, I liked her more and I couldn't say why, because I'm sure that the same toy store had white vet Barbies. She then gained a sister who was a lifeguard. And then they were joined by two different Native American dolls and two Irish Barbies (who at least had my hair color)... I wasn't a big doll fan back then, but when I had dolls, they were a diverse bunch.

[DollyKim]

Now I remember I had a AA ken for awhile but he ended up being Puerto Rican after Howie the Backstreet Boy because that's who he looked like. He was part of the clean out I did when I wanted to make room for the customs. I have one AA guy now, a Power Team Elite parajumper, because he was the only PJ they had and his skin tone didn't matter. If he looked more like Omar Epps he'd be on the Doll House team but the Skipper/Saha Bratz hybrid has grown in to the roll.

I never saw Barbie as anything to personally aspire to in any way. Growing up race didn't matter to me at all, dirt poor is dirt poor and you're lucky to get any toys. Only when I started collecting Teen Skippers, mostly her brunette friend Courtney, did hair color matter and I had a preference for non blondes. It was also a time in my life where I was non natural blonde with my own hair but I was in college so I take it as a normal searching for self.

Even now none of my dolls are representations of me or "mini me". The OCs could be seen as aspects of me but there are just enough dolls who remind me of other people I admire for one thing or another. Dolls and action figures became mementos of different times and things in my life. This day and age I physically aspire to be like Anthony Wiggle because he went from similar back and joint problems I have to turning cartwheels, I'd just like to reach the pain free spring in my step phase.

[knittnkitten]

I was a little obsessed with having darker skin when I was a kid, mostly because I was so pale in comparison to my cousins. my favorite doll was a courtney doll, who had a pretty good tan if I remember. but it bothered mom how much I wanted AA dolls.

[Vetinari]

Any Barbies I was given by well meaning mothers at that age sat unplayed with, and were eventually given to my cousins.
Lego, Star Wars and The Lion King action figures were my obsessions.

Such a shame that Lego released a horribly pink range for girls... sigh

(I've still got my prized Millenium Falcon somewhere - it looked nothing like the film version, but at the time it was amazing and seemed absolutely huge! I was obsessed with finding the perfectly articulated figure back then... I had a Young Obi Wan with articulated arms, but not legs and a Luke Skywalker with articulated legs but not arms )

[quidam]

The way I see the original controversy: kids won't care and the doll will probably end up naked not to long after she arrives home. The adult Barbie collectors I know all have the opinion of "oh, pretty doll!", and not much else. Few care about authenticity of costuming.

If someone truly wants authentic costuming or something more modern, there is nothing stopping them form making or commissioning someone to make one for them. it is technically not Mattel's responsibility.

I'd also like to point out that in my area these dolls hit the discount stores over a month ago. I really don't think it was because of the lack of authentic costuming.

Like it or not it all comes down to Mattel will do what they think will sell. They are about their bottom line, not social change. From a business perspective that is all they need to worry about. People vote for what they like with their dollars,and they will continue to churn out what the customer wants.

This whole thing reminds me of a story within the last month where a mother was upset because she wanted a doll for her down syndrome daughter, but she didn't think any on the market were accurate enough. Instead of complaining or telling doll companies to get it right, she went out and made her own doll. That is a really impressive mindset. It takes so little to complain about what someone else is doing and so much to actually go out and make the change yourself.