pseudanonymous
Racial Profiling?
To take my mind off the fact that I had to go and have a wisdom tooth extracted this afternoon (I broke it eating a Riesen chocolate chew), the Boy humoured me and we went to Toys R Us to check out the state of the shelves.
He actually pointed out this set to me, which according to the tag claims to be the 'ultimate tiny toddler collection'. However, of the 11 canonical Disney Princesses, all of the ethnic minority characters - Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan and Tiana - are missing. Whut?
To start with, we wondered if it was just old stock, but no - there's Rapunzel and Merida. Looking at the dolls themselves, it's clear that there's little (if any) variation in the facial sculpts, which might lend itself more easily to white characters (although obviously they all look vastly different anyway). But would it be so hard to attempt some other characters? I mean, there's even an empty balcony space for goodness' sake!
We live in the UK, and Europe has sometimes missed out when it comes to issues of non-white dolls, but this is ridiculous. I'm not white; back in the '80s, my parents had to try pretty damned hard to find me a Chinese-looking doll (I had a Cabbage Patch Kid, who was awfully cute). But that was the '80s. This might seem ironic coming from someone whose dollying pretty much exclusively consists of Disney characters, but I don't actually like the Disney Princess official franchise - I don't like the redesigns, and I feel that they actually pervert many of the positive strengths of character and versatility that the real film characters have to offer. For example - I get that Mulan looks pretty in her dress, but she sings *a whole bloody song* about how that isn't really her. Rapunzel's hair is a shackle - both literally and metaphorically. Her short brown hair is a symbol of her freedom, and her difference. Why is that always pushed to one side?
Anyway, basically, this is all a long-winded grumble about what is at best thoughtlessness and at worst racial princess profiling. Let me just say that I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Go Go Tomago. ;)
(P.S. Sorry about the long rant again, guys. Blame it on the dental extraction.)
Racial Profiling?
To take my mind off the fact that I had to go and have a wisdom tooth extracted this afternoon (I broke it eating a Riesen chocolate chew), the Boy humoured me and we went to Toys R Us to check out the state of the shelves.
He actually pointed out this set to me, which according to the tag claims to be the 'ultimate tiny toddler collection'. However, of the 11 canonical Disney Princesses, all of the ethnic minority characters - Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan and Tiana - are missing. Whut?
To start with, we wondered if it was just old stock, but no - there's Rapunzel and Merida. Looking at the dolls themselves, it's clear that there's little (if any) variation in the facial sculpts, which might lend itself more easily to white characters (although obviously they all look vastly different anyway). But would it be so hard to attempt some other characters? I mean, there's even an empty balcony space for goodness' sake!
We live in the UK, and Europe has sometimes missed out when it comes to issues of non-white dolls, but this is ridiculous. I'm not white; back in the '80s, my parents had to try pretty damned hard to find me a Chinese-looking doll (I had a Cabbage Patch Kid, who was awfully cute). But that was the '80s. This might seem ironic coming from someone whose dollying pretty much exclusively consists of Disney characters, but I don't actually like the Disney Princess official franchise - I don't like the redesigns, and I feel that they actually pervert many of the positive strengths of character and versatility that the real film characters have to offer. For example - I get that Mulan looks pretty in her dress, but she sings *a whole bloody song* about how that isn't really her. Rapunzel's hair is a shackle - both literally and metaphorically. Her short brown hair is a symbol of her freedom, and her difference. Why is that always pushed to one side?
Anyway, basically, this is all a long-winded grumble about what is at best thoughtlessness and at worst racial princess profiling. Let me just say that I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Go Go Tomago. ;)
(P.S. Sorry about the long rant again, guys. Blame it on the dental extraction.)