As we’re celebrating Black History Month in February, in the United States, I’d like to write about the fact that images on doll clothes sewing patterns available in the US today do not accurately reflect the demographics of our nation.
Before Caucasian people came to North America, only Native American people lived here. To this day, Native American people and mixed-race Native Americans live in the US — my husband and children are among these.
Yet images of Native American people are scarce–if not completely absent– in the cover art of sewing patterns. Mattel has designed Native American dolls, as have other companies, but the images of dolls on my sewing patterns are almost exclusively Caucasian.
If you want proof, just look back at all the blog posts I’ve done on the “Old Patterns from Chelly’s Collection” category. (Click on that link to see them.)
I did find the pattern pictured in today’s blog post among my collection of old patterns. It’s McCall’s 9449 for 12 to 16 inch toddler dolls.
And the doll pictured in the upper left-hand corner could pass for a Native American. She could also pass for an African American. It’s almost like the pattern artist tried to create a “generic ethnic doll” or something.
But all of the other dolls pictured here are Caucasian. They’re mostly blond-haired, blue-eyed dolls. In fact, take a close look at the “generic ethnic doll” for a second. Her eyes are blue too!
And as I thumb through my collection of doll clothes patterns, I find this is the case with nearly all of them. Patterns published in the 1980’s and 1990’s have almost NO dolls of color pictured on them.
Yet I was able to find this sweet little gem among some of my oldest doll clothes patterns. And take a close look at the back of the pattern (shown below). Do you see the date?
This pattern was published in 1968… the year of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination!
Somehow, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a doll pictured on the cover of this pattern reflects people of color. Perhaps it even reflects the perspective of the artist who illustrated this pattern’s cover art. Was he or she moved by the events of the 4th of April, 1968? Did he or she sense the suffering of African Americans who waited too long to be treated as US citizens?
It must be noted that African Americans make up 13% of the entire ethnic population of the USA today (US Census Bureau). Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin make up another 18% of our population. That’s about 30% of our people who are rarely represented on sewing patterns.
And here’s something to think about… If you sell your doll clothes or patterns online, you may be selling to a worldwide market, not just a local market. Are the photos you take of your dolls marketing to people of color? Or do you limit your doll photography to images of Caucasian dolls because that’s what’s in your doll collection?
According to Wikipedia, 59% of the planet’s human population lives in Asia. That’s over half of the population of this earth. How many Asian dolls do you own?
Africans makes up another 17% of the planet’s population (Wikipedia: “Demographics of the World). Which leaves me wondering… does your doll collection reflect the ethnicity of your Instagram followers? Does it reflect the ethnicity of your TikTok account followers, or Facebook friends, or… well… you get the picture.
I’m not trying to stir up trouble with my regular followers, but I believe in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
From what I can tell, we’re not there yet.
What message do we send our children and grandchildren when we only purchase them dolls that are Caucasian? Do your children and grandchildren have dolls that represent other ethnicities besides their own? Do they only own one of these dolls? Or do the dolls in their collection accurately reflect the people they will one day do business with?
Children learn how to be adults through their play. Will the children of today grow up to understand how to do business fairly with people who don’t look like them? And when they grow up, will they understand and respect people from a variety of different ethnic groups, cultures, religions, and countries?
That’s the question I’m asking today, in honor of Black History Month. If you wish to comment, I only ask that you keep your comment respectful.
This blog post is a re-post from 18 January 2021.
Same with fashion dolls! I thrift most of my fashion dolls and I find very few non-caucasian dolls. It’s getting better, but it’s moving slow. Blonde and blue-eyed dolls still dominate in the stores.
Very thoughtful and interesting! 🤗 Sharing! 💖
Great post! I do have an African American Barbie, but not Ken! I may have to buy him new lol!! I love the thought of native costumes, I do have a few of the Unimax Dolls of the World, a black Ginny and a Magic Attic Keisha. I’m sure most of us white folks have even imagined how wonderful it feels for a child to have a doll that looks like them.
I’m glad you enjoyed the post. You have a black Ginny? You’re so lucky! Ginny is such a sweet little thing… I love how she holds her little fingers like a real baby. So precious!
Writing as a 70 yo black woman (half Asian) I have never been concerned about ethnic dolls probably because I never thought about race and growing up all dolls were white. My two girls were born in the mid-1980s & their AG dolls were both white. Granted Addy had not been manufactured at the time but I still never thought I had to buy a black doll for them. I did buy Melody for myself in 2016 because she was the 1960s girl and so was I. Now she is one of many black dolls I collected but not for any cultural reason. Just as a side note, I love all Asian dolls even though I left Asia at the age of 3 (my father was a GI) but it seems to be in my blood I love all things Asian. Thank you for doing this series; it helps others understand where they might not have.
Thank you, Judy, for taking the time to share your thoughts on this topic. Everybody’s viewpoint helps us (as you said) “understand where [we] might not have” otherwise.