New Black Barbie Dolls.

What took Mattel so long to do this?

I have to say I loved the Bratz dolls because of the dolls being more representative of the real world. Took Mattel a long time to catch on didn't it.

Heather, Mattel had them before but they were with white features covered with one shade of brown color.

I think having black barbie dolls is a really cool thing. I think they should have them and I'm glad they do.

I am too, Karen.

thanks!

I know you get it, Johnice!

Ok, thank's for sharing!!!

You're welcome!

If I may paraphrase, "One giant leap for Barbie, one small step for mankind."

I agee, David.

Black dolls have been around for many years. Unrealistic shapes have also been around. "Good hair" on black dolls is okay. I have many black friends that have "good hair". My second son has "bad" hair. He is 100 hundred percent white. "Black" dolls should come in many shades, so should "white" dolls. As "white" people come in multiple shades. Oh, and I have seen only one true "white" person, he was albino. Richard Roundtree had it correct. Remember when he held up a white coffee cup and a black pen to illustrate colors?

Now that is a concept worth more than wink and a nod. It would certainly make more sense than creating "Flesh tone Band aids" whose flesh could they possibly try to match? I am so glad that and Idea like that died quickly!

Good hair is clean and healthy, Lionel. It has nothing to do with texture, natural length for the owner or what is considered attractive.

I disagree Nyota. All of my friends hair is clean and healthy, just some of them can easily run combs through their hair and some can't. I have a good friend who is black, He used to give me a ride to work. He also took his kids to school. One day his daughter touched my hair and looked at her father in wonder. He explained the good hair concept. She had never touched hair that was not kinky.

But what makes kinky "bad", Lionel?
Is it bad to have light skin because one burns more easily from the sun?
There are ways to avoid that just as there are ways to deal with kinky hair.
I contend that if straight, flowing hair is considered the ideal, that is where the "good hair/bad hair" titles stem from.

"Good" and "Bad" as far as hair is concerned should be personal opinions based on non-racial bases. I had a Buddhist friend who kept quoting this from Buddha: "Buhddha say extremes not good." On that basis, extermely straight, extremely curly, extremely thin, extremely thick are all "dad" hairs.

You are corect, Dennis. I admire my black friends with nappy hair. Seems a lot easier to care for than my fly in the wind, "good" hair.

Now that you mention it, my nappy hair is easier to take care of. :-D)

Yes it is, stop bragging, lol. Lionel

I checked them out. They are cute and they still look like Barbie to me.

The entire concept of Barbie dolls, including all of the accessories, black OR white, sickens me and I can think of a million educational and high quality toys I would rather my children played with. Barbies suck.

Barbies do have an image problem. I understand your point, John. I am not advocating the use of the doll. I am voicing my opinion on the changes. You will note that I take issue with the proportions. If I'd thought more deeply about the way the doll is presented, I would have brought up a similar question. Some of Barbie's clothes have hooker-like quality to them. And she doesn't score high marks for being an educational toy.

Barbie has ridiculous proportions. A real woman would look like a freak.

... white barbie - black barbie - green barbie .... these so called 'dolls' do more to demoralize our young girls than aid them in whatever cause! what are we keeping up with here? are we competing between ourselves & to what end?

... i never played with barbie dolls as a youth & never purchased them for my children! mothers teach by what a mother does & how she lives in front of her children.

that fact will never change!

I confess. I had Barbies and I loved them. But I don't think they affected me much in regards to self-image, etc. But I do remember having the opinion that Barbie was a "fast" girl. My brother's GI Joe was her boyfriend and he didn't behave as a gentleman. And, he did have that kung fu grip!

I didn't play with dolls.

We called them action figures.

We finally got our move complete. Despite careful planning, we lost phone/Internet/telephone for almost two weeks.

Jean just picked up the Wicca Barbie. Of course, they call her Halloween Barbie, but we know the deal.

Some years ago, I came out with a list of Barbies I'd like to see.

I started with Bulimic Barbie but said: Hey, wait a minute...

Unlike many adults, I believe most children know the difference between a doll and reality. The children who don't, well, there's something to be said for allowing natural selection work.

Hi Karl. Glad your move went OK. I wondered where you were.

I think Barbie is an ideal for some girls because they are always being told by the media what they should look like and that is usually skinny with big breasts.

Nyota, how do you feel about the "American Girls" line of dolls? I'm not sure how well they captured our cultural diversity, but I know they tried pretty hard.

Are we really trying to pretend that Mattel has a more than insignificant role in self images of young girls? Not really? I am 28 and finally have a better understanding of life. If you want to know who the culprits are, look in the mirrors. Parents, who begin with total control and influence are allowing (in my day) Ally McBeal, and a whole host of other (stars) who, through necessity, have developed an unreal perception of life and themselves. Wait, I'm not saying this right! I don't want you good parents and mentors out there to think I'm blaming all the problems on the parents. Because the honest truth is there is an age when it becomes the childs fault but it does start with the ones charges with their well-being and up-bringing. I'm 28 years old and was raised in a conservative home. My mother didn't allow bad grades, bad language, or bad manners. She never taught me that my hair was anything different than it's supposed to be. And she never led me to believe anything about Barbie, other than she was Theresa's (ethnic doll from Mattel) friend. I loved my Barbie, my Theresa, and my Jet doll. I thought I was lucky to have the hottest dolls out there, I didn't care what shade of white or brown they were.

I loved my Barbies. I had Black and White ones and they were all one big happy family. My Mickey Mouse doll and other stuffed animals had to be their "boyfriends". My mother wouldn't buy male dolls, so I never had a Ken. I'm still mad about that. Anyway, I never wanted to be White Barbie, I had exposure very early on to so many beautiful black woman that I never thought "white" beauty canceled out "black" beauty. There should be a greater variety in toys and dolls, so they should have done this.

I wish Dora the Explorer was around when I was a kid, but I did have Huggy Bean! Remember her Nyota? She looked like Randy Crawford and she had hair of yarn so it kinda looked like locks, I loved that doll... (sigh) Responsibility still rest with parents and adult caretakers to fill a kids environment with representations of themselves no matter what Mattel or anybody else puts out.