To buy my white daughter a brown doll - thats OK right?

[Capaldifan94]

Just that really..

It's not offensive. It's a good thing when children play with toys, read books, or watch films/TV with all different races, abilities, religions etc and it's just a normal part of play for them rather than making it "a thing"
It's fine for her to play with any doll she likes, and good if she has a mix.

£60 for a doll! 😳

I'd have bought her an invisible baby boy doll to go with that pram.

God this type of thinking makes me 😡 I have a couple of Japanese dolls am I culturally appropriating or culturally appreciating?

Ooops - posted too soon!

I think non black people worry that some actions (like this) make them look ‘right on’ or ‘try hard’ but in reality they’re representative of their world, their peer group and their friends. And I think actively choosing a brown doll over a white one is a positive.

As long as it’s a normal brown-skinned doll (not a golly, Sambo, minstrel etc) then it’s fine.

Since little children like playing mummy and daddy to their dolls it's quite offensive to imply that she shouldn't have a different ethnicity doll - is the suggestion that she couldn't be mum to a brown child? Or worse, that she shouldn't be??

But if there is a demand, manufacturers tend to meet it. So if lots of people buy black dolls, should they not end up becoming cheaper?

I bought my daughter one because she preferred the outfit it had on i never thought about it being a problem really - i hope i didnt do anything wrong here!

Surely there is no problem in doing this? I wouldn’t think twice.

My favourite doll as a child was a black baby doll I got when I was about 6. I called her Rosemary Lily of the Valley and I loved her to bits for years. I didn’t really consider colour as a factor at all.

Is nobody , such as the OP , allowed to ask a question seeking advice any more without being jumped on or receiving sarcastic replies . Sickening .

British is not an ethnicity op. You're white.

i had two as a child, i loved them
i bought one for ds when he was 5

Tell me about it!

Its a birthday present and not something I'd have spent so much on otherwise. She has a pram to go with it too.

Apparently the doll is special because it drinks and wees 😐

Here he is https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4331445?istCompanyId=a74d8886-5df9-4baa-b776-166b3bf9111c&istFeedId=c290d9a9-b5d6-423c-841d-2a559621874c&istItemId=rxtaixlll&istBid=t&&cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59157%7cacid:629-618-1342%7ccid:16634989433%7cagid:133162502845%7ctid:pla-973055899144%7ccrid:588879114441%7cnw:u%7crnd:10045139326920849400%7cdvc:m%7cadp:%7cmt:%7cloc:9045879&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=16634989433&utm_term=4331445&utm_content=shopping&utm_custom1=133162502845&utm_custom2=629-618-1342&GPDP=true&gclid=CjwKCAjw9J2iBhBPEiwAErwpeZ1vnerw7i9f3n1QBvRPfVj9Yp9AsdWPExGlTShrYOLAftXs3HuhpxoCGScQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'm pretty sure it is?

Of course it is.

I can’t see how anyone can think you trying not to be offensive is a negative thing.

Sorry some people are being dicks.

If your dd is old enough, there are two of the new Sindy dolls who are black & two who are Asian, one of the black dolls has proper afro hair.

Very early 90s I really wanted a black doll. I just asked my mum if she remembered, and she did. I asked her if there was any particular reason she didn't buy it me, and she said I had too many different dolls already that i didn't play with. I then asked if she was worried it would look off if I had my black boy baby and she looked at me like I was mad

Most of us value our DM's opinion, which is presumably why the OP asked the question in the first place, as on this occassion she felt that her mother was wrong!

Ahh she's so lucky! I always wanted a weeing doll too! And for ages I was obsessed with this doll advert on the telly about a doll that "eats cherries from a jar" if anyone remembers, and they like slid back up the spoon.

I do have a confession. Over 20 years ago when my dd was choosing a doll, I steered her towards the black one because I was a bit of a performance parent.🤣 But she was a lovely doll and much loved for many years by dd and then by her little brother (I was still a performance parent when he came along!)

I remember like it was yesterday!

For children of all ethnicities, races and abilities, surely a strong sense of inclusivity of others is what we strive to encourage in them?

Play is how kids process their lives and worlds. And learn compassion and critical thinking.

When you expose kids to other cultures, and help them see the world through someone else’s perspective, it helps them develop empathy.

Dolls that look like other people help to develop that empathy, and it helps give them a healthy idea of their place in the world.

If early years kids don't see themselves represented, why wouldn't they feel less valued? Similarly, why wouldn't kids in groups always represented get that same message: that the 'other' ones don't belong as much in their lives?

So, yeah, surround children with as many different dolls of all skin colours as you can, IMO. We're in 2023.

I had a black doll in the 80s off my nan,i still have it and my 6yr old son still loves it.

One of the things about race/racism that fascinates me the most is that white people will work themselves up into a frenzy over something like this but think absolutely nothing of the racism Black people encounter on an almost daily basis

Eh? Where do you live?

And to square this rather weird circle, you can actually buy black baby dolls with Down’s syndrome.