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AIBU?

To Think Buying Your Unborn Baby A Golliwog

273 replies

NurseyWursey · 08/03/2014 19:00

and posting the photo on facebook, is in bad taste?

It just seems a bit Confused to me.

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whitepuddingsupper · 08/03/2014 19:02

YANBU, I didn't even think they made golliwogs any more so I was Shock when I saw one in the window of a local gift shop recently.

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bigTillyMint · 08/03/2014 19:03

Much much worse than just bad tasteAngry

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steff13 · 08/03/2014 19:07

I'd never heard of a golliwog until I started reading MN, so I am only vaguely aware of the racial implications of the character. They have a very Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer vibe to them.

That said, I googled it, and those things are horrifying looking, IMO. I would have been terrified of that as a child. I have a irrational fear of dolls, though.

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namechangesforthehardstuff · 08/03/2014 19:07

I recently told the owner of a gift shop that I thought there were some lovely things in her shop but I wouldn't contemplate buying something from a shop with them in it. She went a bitAngry

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NurseyWursey · 08/03/2014 19:07

I was going to point it out then thought it's not even worth the bother. If she doesn't realise how offensive it is for people then I'm not going to educate her.

Apparently they're all over ebay.. so? Out of all the things to buy your unborn daughter she choses a golliwog Hmm

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CountessOfRule · 08/03/2014 19:08

Gosh. In these enlightened times you would really have had to go out of your way to find one, so yes it would show you in a bad light.

Defriend.

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RalphLaurenLover · 08/03/2014 19:14

I like them :) Then again they were used as a toy for children originally.

If I didn't like things that people had taken to insult others I wouldn't like Oreo's, Maltesers, Twix, CoCo Pops etc.

As a black kid I had one because I copped in a shop till I got one and I called it my sister :)

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NurseyWursey · 08/03/2014 19:15

If I didn't like things that people had taken to insult others I wouldn't like Oreo's, Maltesers, Twix, CoCo Pops etc

Can I ask, why have people taken offence to those things?

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NigellasDealer · 08/03/2014 19:16

they are only little stuffed toys made of black felt. do people not call them 'gollies' anyway? not 'golliwog'?

what is the big deal with them?

(it was a sad day when i collected my last robinson's golly)

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whitepuddingsupper · 08/03/2014 19:18

I've never heard "malteser" or "twix" used as racial abuse in the same way as "wog" wtf are you on about? Confused

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Dawndonnaagain · 08/03/2014 19:19
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RalphLaurenLover · 08/03/2014 19:19

Nursery

They were all used as terms to try and insult you or racist jokes. (I grew up in a rough area untill I moved the hell out)

It's just a black toy, I assume people would of got offended if they made a white one or an Asian one to go with it..

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gordyslovesheep · 08/03/2014 19:20

I would think that person was a bit of a twat OP and de friend them

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Dawndonnaagain · 08/03/2014 19:20

Ralph Please read the link, it's not just a toy?

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steff13 · 08/03/2014 19:21

Here in the US, a person might be called an Oreo because he or she is black on the outside and white on the inside, like the cookie. I suppose implying that the person's attitude or behavior isn't "black enough." I personally don't think there's one way a person has to behave based on his or her race, but whatever.

I don't know what the other insults might mean.

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NigellasDealer · 08/03/2014 19:21

ok thanks for that dawn

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Dawndonnaagain · 08/03/2014 19:21

Apologies for the random question mark!

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NurseyWursey · 08/03/2014 19:21

Ah right, a malteaser wasn't created to imitate black people in a supposedly comical way though - that's the difference I see. It's not the name, it's the item that causes offence.

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RalphLaurenLover · 08/03/2014 19:22

Dawn When it was first invented/created it was just a black character.

Originally It was just a toy.

It was created as a racial insult.

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RalphLaurenLover · 08/03/2014 19:24

wasn't*

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Dawndonnaagain · 08/03/2014 19:25

That's the point. It was created as a racial insult. It was never just a toy.

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steff13 · 08/03/2014 19:25

It's just a black toy, I assume people would of got offended if they made a white one or an Asian one to go with it.

As I said, I am not completely clear on the issues involved, but I think it is clear that it's a bit deeper than this. We're white, but my daughter has a black baby doll; it's just a generic doll that they've made in different skin tones to represent different races. The golliwog appears to be something that was designed specificially to mock black people.

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NigellasDealer · 08/03/2014 19:26

The golliwog appears to be something that was designed specificially to mock black people yes that is what i picked up from the article....

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Back2Basics · 08/03/2014 19:28

They're horrid and I wouldn't be friends with anyone who would have them and think they're ok. I have fallen out with a lady over this.

They are not just a toy, that is like saying nigger is just a word.

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RalphLaurenLover · 08/03/2014 19:28

It was just a character in a book. A friendly one at that

People get offended far to easily. I don't see it as racist, It's a black toy. You take any name and use it to insult a whole race enough and people will frown upon it.

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