Black & Proud

Is Barbie finally moving on up? Last month Mattel introduced a new line of African American dolls inspired by longtime designer Stacy McBride-Irby, who wanted to give her daughters Barbies that more accurately represented their culture. The mother of two said "I want my new So In Style dolls to not only be an authentic representation of my community and culture, but to also encourage girls to be inspired and dream big."

Has she managed to do just that? So far reviews of Grace, Kara, and Trichelle are mixed, according to CNN's iReporters, a group from the site's user-generated news community, who weighed in on the subject. Omekongo, also a father of two from Washington, D.C., wanted to avoid the issue of whether the new dolls' fuller lips, curlier hair, and variety of skin tone were “black enough.” He says he's struggled with finding positive images of young black girls for his daughters. “Everyone wants to see themselves represented in American society,” he explained. And he agrees that the new dolls can help girls develop big dreams for the future. He points to President Obama, judge Sonya Sotomayor, and even Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin as showing kids of all races that they can achieve great things.

But not everyone was that philosophical. Charles Mudede saw the marketing impact reach perhaps a wider-than-intended audience. On the Slog blog, he wrote “Those who think the black barbie is just for black girls have a poor understanding of the world we live in. The same white girls who buy the music (and consume the images) of Beyonce, will buy the black Barbie doll.”

Yet, BlackStar 18, from New York, urged African-Americans to “stop trying to keep up with white society. All this does is continue to create self deLusions (her emphasis) that has destroyed this nation.”

It's too soon to tell whether the new black Barbie is causing a revolution, but if previous sales are any indication, Mattel will keep on developing it's multiple lines of ethnic dolls. The toy company's foray into black dolls in 1991 initially boosted sales by 20 percent, writes Erica Rand in her book Barbie's Queer Accessories.

Price is definitely a consideration, as our father from D.C., Omekongo, added. He said that while his daughters love Princess Tiana of Disney's The Princess and the Frog, the merchandise was too cost-prohibitive for him to buy (although T-shirts start at $9.50 and a twin comforter set retails for $49.95). At a price range of $7.99 to $24.99 for Grace, Kara, and Trichelle, there's a little buying power for everyone, no matter what your race is.