Talking of Golliwogs.. . .. .

[WinkyWinkola]

I was a bit taken aback when I was looking for a dolly for my DD's birthday and I came across this:

{[https://ssl3.lon.gb.securedata.net/rosablue.com/dolls.htm It's the Mimi doll]]

I made an enquiry about the size of the lovely dolls on this site and also about the Mimi doll. I just felt it was a total caricature of the black slave especially when you can get her dress embroidered with Every Day is Wash Day .

The response to my enquiry was:

Mimi doubled as a student and our live-in nanny when we lived in Cape Town in the 80s.

She was very much part of the family when Penelope started to make her dolls. The whole family was still all living under the same roof then and each of us provided a name for at least one of her prototypes. Which is they all take their names after one of us.

Mimi liked the doll then and it while I understand the sensibility in Britain over the "golliwog" image, that is not what it means to us and we would be loathe to discontinue it.

Am I being over sensitive to find this doll offensive and not buy from the site as a result? Their other dolls are lovely.

She reminds me of slavery, of golliwogs,of the 'mammy' caricatures of plantation slaves used in old black and white movies. Like the cook in Gone with the wind.Yes white people do wash clothes you are quite right(whoever said it)...but the white dolls don't have it sewn on to their clothes..and they aren't defined by it in a stereotypical way.
I don't care what it means to them (the people who make em) either..to me it's offensive

she looks like quite a few of H's aunts

Message withdrawn

I don't expect everybody to agree with me.

I was just struck by the image of the black washerwoman - she's quite distinct as a black washerwoman. None of the other dolls appear to have this washerwoman persona unless I've missed them.

And then the retailers spoke of their S.A. background.

Student/nanny whatever. I'm not sure any black woman could expect equality in S.A. in the '80's.

Just looked like a black woman doll to me. I don't even get the washerwoman link. The washday message isn't the only one and it is also available for the white doll. Is that a white washerwoman?

"it's playing into the stereotype that black people are there to serve whites"
Are you serious? I must really be missing something here.

agree with Jules

where is this message?

SA white = racist argument is getting v tired....

It's just a black woman in a headscarf in doll form

Why is she a servant? Are the white dolls servants too? I just see that she is a WOMAN.

I think "freedom for our people" may be a little late........it's been nearly 14yrs since the end of Apartheid

"Unfortunately" women all over the world of all races are still the main clothes washers

of FFS, get over yourselves ! its just a doll who is black. just like the other dolls who are white. the only people keeping racism alive are the people who are always so sensitive to it ! - the people who keep seeing a difference. Black, whites yellows, greens, we are all human. Why does this issue keep coming up ????? It drives me nuts !!

Perhaps it's just a case of what the doll conjures up for us individually. To me, it's not just a woman. It's a black woman who is obviously a servant. Perhaps that says more about me, expecting a black woman with a headscarf to be a servant.

But the effects of apartheid are still enormous today 2008 in S.A. To suggest that 14 years means the end is extremely simplistic.

Perhaps people are sensitive to it because they've been abused because of the colour of their skins over hundreds of years? Who knows?

It's always good to keep such debate alive.

I dont see it as offensive. The headscarf is just the traditional south african one, surely?

'It's always good to keep such debate alive".

WHY? equality was what was wanted and what was acheived so why do we have to keep this issue alive?

i think its a tad offensive tbh and wouldn't buy from their site on principle. it is a caricature, and not a helpful one. YANBu

You seriously think equality was achieved?

Its just a doll thats black.I had loads as a luttle girl and I had a golliwog.I never looked at it and thought it was anything to do with a black person. I just thought it was another doll.I think people need to relax a bit tbh.Children do not see colour they just see dolls.

I just dont get it! its a doll who is black - marketed towards adults who want to buy dolls for their children that represent their image. It does NOT represent an oppressed black woman.

and who does it offend ? why? ahhhhhhh this makes me so mad!

racism is a terrible thing, there have been laws passed and it is illegal and we should all be making an effort to put it behind us. So why does it have to be kept alive ?

It is exactly dialoge like this that keeps it alive - someone contemplating not buying a product because 'it may' be offenstive.

"It's a black woman who is obviously a servant."

What exactly makes it "obviously" a servant??

as I mentioned above it's exactly how some of my H's aunts look........and they are not by ANY stretch of the imagination servants (now more commonly referred to as domestic staff) one or two of them owning their own businesses before retirement

Mimi AND Francesca (the doll above) can BOTH be ordered with VARIOUS messages including "yummy mummy" "bless this house" "sisters are special". I agree, whoever thinks golliwogs are racist are racist themselves. Is Barbie just a white tart then? I have over 30 golliwogs ... have had them since I was a year old. I love them, my entire childhood was spent with them, my own children love them and none of us are racist. As a previous post said, GET OVER YOURSELF !