We take the representation of different ethnicities in our My Sibling and My Pal doll lines very seriously, but for slightly different reasons than our friends at Naturally Perfect Dolls who we wrote about in our previous post. Our goal is to teach children to be accepting of others who may learn or act differently, and that same philosophy extends into how we feel about look-alike dolls. We sell mainly boy dolls, which is even more of a niche market, but it turns out there are a ton of boys who want a doll. These little guys also tend to be desperately jealous of their sister’s American Girl Doll. We get asked daily about certain hair, eye, and skin color combinations that we have available, so that parents can buy a doll that looks just like their son. Many parents seem to think that the lookalike factor is the most important when choosing a doll for their child. That is where we slightly disagree, but where we think that balanced representation of all races in dolls is the most impactful on our youth.

 Giving children mini-me dolls can be fun and a significant self-esteem booster in most cases. On the other hand, if the look-alike aspect is given too much significance, our youth will not be given the opportunity to see the beauty in or love dolls that may look different. This type of sheltered childhood experience might have an impact on how a child sees real people of other races and ethnicities. I mean, I am not a child psychologist, but I do believe that teaching our children to love people who look different than they do is just as important as teaching our children to love themselves. So, your kid has light skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair? Why not buy them a doll with curly black hair and dark skin? And then buy them another one with medium skin and brown hair? And then buy them three more dolls and a whole bunch of accessories too, eh? Buy five of our dolls, we promise your kid will love them and create world peace. Sorry, that was the devil on my left shoulder again.

 All jokes aside, there is a very disappointing shortage of dolls for young girls of color that accurately represent their appearance. The very features that make them beautiful and unique are diminished in many of the dark-skinned dolls that are made by major toy companies. We too, as a doll company that takes diversity very seriously, do not have a different face or hair texture for our darker-skinned dolls. However, we have been generally satisfied with our dark-skinned boy doll’s hair, and our customers have taken notice. With our success selling our African American boy doll, we were discouraged by the lack of interest in our African American girl doll. Now, thanks to Upworthy and our cool aunt that keeps us informed, we are realizing that our black girl doll’s hair being long, shiny, and wavy could be a significant flaw when it comes to appealing to young African American girls who love their natural hair. With Naturally Perfect Dolls coming onto the scene, we definitely need to step up our hair game. Stay tuned!