To be shocked with what I found in mothercare

[Lehman]

Im from the uk but have recently moved to Brisbane. I was pleased to find they have mothercare over here but shocked to find they are selling gollie dolls. I thought they stopped doing these years ago.

YUCK YUCK YUCK. growing up and being called a golliwog is something I never want my children to go through. Good riddance to them. I hope someday to see a big bonfire with them all on and all those racist pigs that made my life hell at school burning along with them.

and breath.

We have tried facebook
Honestly.

Its been a bit of an uphill battle tbh.

Lets hope our kids never have to go through what you have.

marysbeard isn't marybeard, just in case you thought that.

so its not that the doll is offensive its the name of it? (only read first few pages) I dont see it any different from any other rag doll tbh, however from what I can understand on the thread it is the name "wog" that is the issue.??

maybe give the thread a squizz next time and then post?

Glitterkitten consider this. let's say someone had a son that was down syndrome and a doll was produced with comic features that was made to take the piss out of down syndrome people, let's called them downwoggies dolls. for years down syndrome people were called woggies. Do you think people would still be calling them cute 20 years later. or do you think that people would have the common sense to see them for what they are. hateful dolls that have no place in history.

I am so fed up of people making excuses for racist attitudes. Yes racism isnt linked exclusively to white people, yes racism exists in many cultures, races etc etc. But that does not make it ok to hand this doll to an innocent child of any colour, no matter how innocent you feel it all is/was! Because it is not!

If this doll is just a delightful toy, then a burning cross is just sticks on fire and a swastika is just a pretty pattern (these points have been made by some intelligent posters already - i'm just re-capping! ). I dont see many people enjoying this pretty pattern today, nor admiring the sticks on fire - so why should the toy be any different.

laughlovelife - yes the doll is too because of it's charicatures (huge lips, ugly face, muppet hands ect) To understand the whole idea of the golliwog needs a trip back into the British way of thinking at the time and how black people were portrayed and thought of.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.gollydollies.co.uk/images/boy-golly-doll-productpic1.jpg&imgrefurl=www.gollydollies.co.uk/boy-golly-doll.html&h=400&w=338&sz=79&tbnid=x4wCIwvhk_xcsM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=76&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgolliwog%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=golliwog&docid=ht6nqY6p7BNCzM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=AAOfT-z1GYb98QOi5pmZDw&ved=0CFUQ9QEwBA&dur=211" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.gollydollies.co.uk/images/boy-golly-doll-productpic1.jpg&imgrefurl=www.gollydollies.co.uk/boy-golly-doll.html&h=400&w=338&sz=79&tbnid=x4wCIwvhk_xcsM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=76&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgolliwog%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=golliwog&docid=ht6nqY6p7BNCzM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=AAOfT-z1GYb98QOi5pmZDw&ved=0CFUQ9QEwBA&dur=211

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=victorian+dolls&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1024&bih=506&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=TR8Ceny0aBxazM:&imgrefurl=www.dollshousecurtains.co.uk/wall-paper-borders--victorian-dolls-207-p.asp&docid=u9nT4UiJYPpBSM&imgurl=www.dollshousecurtains.co.uk/ekmps/shops/wendy1/images/border1vdsh%255Bekm%255D857x400%255Bekm%255D.jpg&w=857&h=400&ei=dwOfT_fUMYOy8gOItN2MCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=189&vpy=202&dur=122&hovh=153&hovw=329&tx=207&ty=90&sig=117198228439316076112&page=1&tbnh=84&tbnw=179&start=0&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=victorian+dolls&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1024&bih=506&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=TR8Ceny0aBxazM:&imgrefurl=www.dollshousecurtains.co.uk/wall-paper-borders--victorian-dolls-207-p.asp&docid=u9nT4UiJYPpBSM&imgurl=www.dollshousecurtains.co.uk/ekmps/shops/wendy1/images/border1vdsh%255Bekm%255D857x400%255Bekm%255D.jpg&w=857&h=400&ei=dwOfT_fUMYOy8gOItN2MCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=189&vpy=202&dur=122&hovh=153&hovw=329&tx=207&ty=90&sig=117198228439316076112&page=1&tbnh=84&tbnw=179&start=0&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:135

Very good point Facebookhurtsmybrain.

Allboxedin-what is the significance of the Victorian dolls wallpaper?

Thanks Noqontrol. It annoys me when people call them nice dolls. I'm outta this thread, some people will never learn and still hold on to their views, no matter how much people tell them they're wrong. hold on I think I can hear my daughter crying, she must of dropped her Hitler doll again Night

I think what Mirry meant was that whilst such dolls are still legal, she would defend the right to purchase regardless of what the purchaser has in mind when buying the doll. I suppose people who buy them are likely ignorant of the origin. Frankly, I doubt anybody bought one purely so that they could make their thoughts on black people known. I do accept that someone is making money off the back of something which previously belittled an entire race, which is why I personally would find it distasteful at the least to see such things in shops today.

Because some posters hooked on to Mirry's acknowledgement of people's rights the argument descended into accusations of racism and Mirry had to defend herself. I think you guys are smart enough to understand that Mirry may not have thought this through and that she's not actually a racist. I also think you should be ashamed of yourselves for such persecution.

This one is an awkward situation. On one hand the doll represents a negative view of black people, but only if you know that already. On the other hand, it's a classic toy. Maybe it never should have achieved that status, but it has.

I understand that if racism didn't exist today it would be so much easier to drop a debate like this, it would be old news.

I notice that almost nobody has actually focussed on Mothercare on this thread. Considering our children will either carry forward or hold back racism in the future I think Mothercare have been very foolish.

but that's not actually true, boomerwang. loath as i am to make this all about one poster, she actually expressed her thoughts frequently and with imo considerable clarity. it's just that what she was Actually Saying (partic re jock hats, paddy jokes etc) made no sense. and that, i'm afraid, is up for grabs on a chatroom.

When I did my so called 'rant' it was in direct response to a previous poster who said that because she's Irish she viewed leprechauns as racist. My point was that people have different views about what is racist. It may not have made sense because some other posts were made in between hers and mine - it happens to us all.

Haven't read the whole thread, but I am an Australian and I dont think the word golliwog has any real connotation in oz - I dont think it's a slur the way it is in the UK. The only exposure I had to golliwogs when growing up was in Enid blyton books etc, it's not a word/concept that you'd use to describe a black person.

I don't see the issue myself but I have never been a victim of racism. My partner collects them and he's not racist. Having said that I won't have them on show because I know people are offended by them and I wouldn't want to offend any of my guests.
I know of others that openly collect them and put them in the window, which is a bit tactless.

i didn't say you had done a 'rant', mirry.

clearly you were making a point, i just think it's a fairly senseless one, tbh. you seem to be saying that you will defend the right of people to buy and own golliwogs because they're not illegal and because some people find leprechauns/jock hats offensive. (the stuff about ba ba black sheep, black coffee etc is hooey).

i don't understand that, personally. golliwogs are racist in origin, i don't defend the right of people to buy and own them, i think they're a pile of shit and should have died out a long time ago. i'm unclear as to what leprechauns have to do with that, other than if someone says they find the twinkly, thieving leprechaun stereotype as applied to irish people offensive, then i would be inclined to sympathise with that position.

Aitchtwoohonetwo, I said no such thing about leprechauns etc - I was answering a particular point made by another poster who said that she found leprechauns racist. I simply said that different people found all sorts of things racist and gave some examples. I didn't say they were right or wrong. I certainly didn't say I agreed that the Baa Baa Blacksheep thing or black coffee was racist -I merely gave them as examples of the way some people have thought about racisim - and if by saying they are hooey if you are suggesting I made the examples up I can assure you I didn't,; ask anybody who lived in or worked for some of the London local authorities in the 1980s.

Tethersand and MrsDv have stopped having a go at me so I assume now they now accept and understand what I'm saying.

I also beleive in the legal process, don't you?

"Tethersand and MrsDv have stopped having a go at me so I assume now they now accept and understand what I'm saying."

Gawd, no.

But don't let me stop you

YANBU. These toys are based on racist stereotypes and there's no need to keep making them or selling them. It's disingenuous to pretend they're "just a toy".

I agree BBQ