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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think this was inappropriate?

114 replies

DontTouchTheMoustache · 08/11/2016 10:27

I was driving this morning and I ended up waiting behind a car that had a few teddies on the parcel shelf, facing outwards. At first thought that was quite cute but I noticed the one on the right was a golliwog doll. As from as I was aware these dolls were designed as a racist insult? I was a bit shocked but I don't know if I am behind the times on this?

OP posts:
Manumission · 08/11/2016 13:03

Do you really malice? That's why you're making a point of repeating them? Hmm

We can debate their use but this does say 'racial or ethnic slur considered derogatory and offensive'.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wog

Care to report your own post?

Crystal15 · 08/11/2016 13:03

Rediculous. It's a doll, people then went onto use the name of the doll in a racist manner. I have 2 of them, love them! I'm very against racism, I won't buy into madness though.

Magicpaintbrush · 08/11/2016 13:04

Manumission and River Tam, thanks for clarifying - so that poem was Agatha Christie, not Enid Blyton. I can certainly see why they changed it!

BratFarrarsPony · 08/11/2016 13:04

" I believe WOG was an abbreviation for 'Western Oriental Gentleman' or something like that."

that is not really the point any more is it?
The fact is that 'wog' is considered to be offensive...which is why nobody says it anymore.
No idea why people keep repeating it.

Manumission · 08/11/2016 13:06

The fact is that 'w' is considered to be offensive...which is why nobody says it anymore.
No idea why people keep repeating it.

I do Sad

user1478551766 · 08/11/2016 13:08

One of the negatives is the reluctance to buy dolls and action figures that are black or any colour that is not rosy beige for fear of being inappropriate and causing offence

No. Normal toys representing people of all colours are not at all the same thing as golliwogs. How can people not understand that the golly is NOT just a doll that is black. It is a stereotype, highlighting all that is negative and bad...its not a harmless little doll.

Dolls of different shades are good. Golliwogs are not that.

Really look at a golliwog Do you truly think this is just a doll that happens to be black? Come on!

BratFarrarsPony · 08/11/2016 13:09

" One of the negatives is the reluctance to buy dolls and action figures that are black or any colour that is not rosy beige for fear of being inappropriate and causing offence "

no you can get normal black dollies at London markets that nobody considers offensive...

TheCompanyOfCats · 08/11/2016 13:11

I have one from my childhood. It came from Jamaica and I have fond memories of playing with it but I wouldn't display the doll anywhere 'public' given the associations.

I find this discussion really interesting.

Manumission · 08/11/2016 13:13

One of the negatives is the reluctance to buy dolls and action figures that are black or any colour that is not rosy beige for fear of being inappropriate and causing offence

Don't be daft Grin

There are lovely dolls available in all ethnicities.

Gollies OTOH are hideous stereotypes with a hateful history.

It's really not complicated at all.

Crystal15 · 08/11/2016 13:13

User 147 are you for real? I see no resembelence to black people in a Golly. What's that even supposed to mean? Of course it's a doll that's just black. Are you implying it looks like a black person? That's what a racist. To a child it's just a doll, to an adult it's either racist or a way to be racist. It can just be a doll you know.

SolidGoldBrass · 08/11/2016 13:15

Some people consider them racist and some people don't. However, what someone chooses to put in his/her own car is not really anyone else's business. It is possible that the driver of that car has the golly on display as a 'fuck you,political correctness' post-Brexit gesture, but equally possible that it's one of his/her DC's favourite toys.
I suppose driving a car absolutely rammed with gollies round and round a multicultural/mainly Afro-Carribean area with your car stereo belting out Tomorrow Belongs To Me would be worthy of a word from the police, but a passing glimpse of one golly among other cuddly toys is not actually worth getting your undies in a bundle ab out.

Manumission · 08/11/2016 13:16

Oh Crystal can you hear yourself?

You do this on every golly thread since the year dot.

You've been shown so many resources on the history, but you ignore.

Your pose is tedious.

user1478551766 · 08/11/2016 13:16

Hmm Seriously?
It can't be just a doll. It's inherently a racist symbol of slavery and oppression.

To a child of the 21st century, its an embarrassment. Very few people think it acceptable to display a golliwog any more.

Original poster
DontTouchTheMoustache · 08/11/2016 13:16

crystal it's not just a dollar though is it? 5 seconds on Google can tell you that.

OP posts:
ThymeLord · 08/11/2016 13:16

"Rediculous. It's a doll, people then went onto use the name of the doll in a racist manner. I have 2 of them, love them! I'm very against racism, I won't buy into madness though"

This just isn't true. As has been stated a number of times on this thread. You can't be "very against racism" if you consider it madness that a golli is offensive.

blueistheonlycolourwefeel · 08/11/2016 13:18

I had a golly when I was a child. He was dressed in a tuxedo and I LOVED him. My grandma made him. I do not believe she made him to be racist, BUT I do understand that she may have been ignorant of the implications as we're many people in the late 70's and early 80's. time moves on and so do opinions.

MaliceInWonderland78 · 08/11/2016 13:21

You can report my post if you want. I'm not especially offended by Gollies. I'm not sure I need anyone to feel offended on my behalf.

I must admit, I find the awkwardness surrounding them amusing for the most part.

Manumission · 08/11/2016 13:24

I'm not especially offended by Gollies.

Yeah we know, you've just told us you seek out displays of them to be photographed with.

And you're defending the W word.

It's quite clear where you stand.

Bluebolt · 08/11/2016 13:24

I worked in Human Resources and spent time in procurement for a retailers, ethnicity of toys sells better when mirrored with the market it sell to. It was a while ago but the best selling dolls are white, followed by unnatural colours (purple/ green etc).

Crystal15 · 08/11/2016 13:24

Wtf are u on about Manu? I've not been on any Golly threads. I suggest you check carefully as you clearly mean another member.

Yes I am against racism, I correct anybody who uses racist terms to describe shops or takeaways. I'm not even white myself ffs. Yet hey Ho I'm a racist as I'm not offended by it. It really is just a doll. We've had plenty of strange looking dolls over the years. The original trolls are a prime example. Think some of you need a hobby if your that bored your trying to convince a black person they are racist against their own culture. Nobody in my family is bothered by the doll. So yes I just see a doll

Manumission · 08/11/2016 13:26

Oh I'm sorry. Crystal is clearly a popular NN word amongst golly apologists. How confusing!

BoffinMum · 08/11/2016 13:30

If all people have to worry about is the presence of a doll with a certain appearance then they haven't got enough on. Racism is much bigger and nastier than being about dolls, but of course it's easier to bitch about that kind of thing (low hanging fruit approach) than actually face the fact it's currently destroying Britain on a much more serious level. It's like complaining stag groups carry around inflatable sex dolls but doing little to actively challenge differential pay in the workplace in a consistently determined way.

Crystal15 · 08/11/2016 13:31

Well you seem to know the ins and outs of every Golly thread since the start of time Manu. Clearly instead of getting a life you police each and every one. Enjoy! I'm now blocking this thread, as believe it or not some of us have better things to do Grin

Crystal15 · 08/11/2016 13:32

Boffin. Excellent poSt

RhodaBorrocks · 08/11/2016 13:32

My DF had a golly doll as a child. His Dad made him throw it on the fire. Not because it was offensive but because he was 'too old to have dolls now'. He was about 5. I suppose I should be impressed they allowed a small boy to have a doll in the 1950s though!

My other granddad was stationed in Egypt during the war. He always called black people Wogs until he died in the 1990s. It used to make us majorly cringe.

I still have my collection of Robertsons Gollywog enamel pins, which I avidly collected as a child. But they aresensibly put away in a cupboard not displayed and my DS' own enamel pin collection is much more socially acceptable.