Barbie comes in every shade, just like many other dolls. When I was interested in collecting a multitude of dolls I had a doll in every “skin complexion.” My mom never felt that I should just have brown or dark skin dolls, because they look like me. Talking to some of my friends about their childhoods, some would tell me that they were only allowed to get brown dolls. I tried not to look so appalled at the idea of restraining a child from buying a white doll. The same would go for a White girl. I know there have been black girls, who only like White dolls and vice versa. Of course we would encourage girls to love themselves and we can teach them this by buying them a doll that looks “like them.” But there is a thin line, between teaching self-love and instilling racist thoughts when it comes to this topic.
Buying one particular color Barbie doll, or any doll can cause little girls to have bias against other girls. In the Spencer Test, a remake of the Doll test White children associated their own skin complexion with positive attributes and those with darker skin complexion with negative attributes. Even some Black children held a bias towards the White dolls. So I can see why families may want to buy girls a doll that looks like them. To teach them to appreciate those who look like them, and love who they are. Children are still capable of showing signs of racism. This would explain why the girls had a bias to the dolls in the Spencer test.
Buying girls a doll that looks like them all the time can also teach them to have racism instilled in them. They will believe that the “lighter complexion” is bad and the “darker complexion” is better. Causing them to have stereotypical and negative views about people who don’t look like them. Buying dolls of every color can help them see that people come in different ways and not every one is going to look like them, but that’s OK. Having different color dolls can introduce diversity into their lives and see all people as beautiful.
