Dolls

In regards to the class presentation we say our last class meeting over the differences in dolls from the 1930s – 1950: I was curious to see if those same differences in white versus black dolls were still being made today.
I went to the Target.com website and looked at the dolls for sale. I did notice that the outfits were more similar now if not identical between the white and black dolls. The faces of the back dolls were less shiny and more matte like natural skin now. Some of the black dolls had such light skin and straight hair that I didn’t even realize they were supposed to be black dolls when I first looked at them. They almost looked like tanned, brunette versions of the white dolls. This is not to say that all black people have very dark skin, obviously they don’t. However these dolls were in great contrast to the ones we were shown in class.

It seemed really odd that back in the 30s – 50s identical dolls had on different clothing because of skin color. I could understand the color of the garments being different but having the same design. However, most of the examples we were shown in class has drastically different skin textures and clothing.

Overall I think the doll making industry is much more progressive than it was 70 years ago. However I still really dislike the clothing on the Bratz dolls…