Where Are The Black Dolls?
This past weekend I went shopping at one of my favorite stores, TJ Maxx. I noticed the toy display featured at the front of the store. It was placed so that shoppers wouldn’t miss the display and I didn’t miss it. Front and center were toys promoting Frozen 2. It’s a huge movie and Disney and TJ Maxx are utilizing it’s appeal to sell merchandise. I don’t blame them for that. As a parent who wouldn’t love the uplifting messages and inspiring characters? So I didn’t really care too much about a promotional toy display until I saw the next table piled with more dolls. I noticed that all the dolls in the front of the store were white. This surprised me because it’s 2019 and everyone knows about the importance of diversity and inclusion. Right? But before I jumped to any conclusions, I wanted to check out the other toys available for sale. I decided to take a look at the back of the store where the other toys are located. My hope was that I’d find some Black dolls. Well, I didn’t, as you can see from the pictures below. The one toy that promised to be diverse was a Doc McStuffins toy, but alas it was either an animal or a doctor’s bag set. I was shocked at the lack of diverse options for dolls in the store because the store has diverse shoppers and it’s 2019. You can’t tell me there are no Black dolls or other dolls of color in the store’s distribution center. The other thought is that all the dolls of color they had in inventory sold out and the only dolls left were all white. I guess that could’ve happened but I seriously doubt it… unless dolls of color are big sellers for TJ Maxx. One can only hope.
I’ve been aware of a long history of reinforcing gender based stereotypes by dividing toys into categories of girls toys and boy toys. Gender based toys promote a normalization of what boys and girls should be like and play with. Toys should not be the determinant of whether a girl can or cannot play with trucks or determine if boy can or cannot play with dolls. This promotion of gender based toys contributes to fixed ideas of what kids should be. As a parent, I want to ensure that my children have the freedom to explore all opportunities and possibilities. What if only certain toys are allowed to influence culture? I don’t think it would be a good practice to limit a world of options for our children. But this is what gendering toys does, it contributes to inequalities for children. Ask yourself, should girls and boys have unequal access to STEM based toys? Do we want to limit the opportunities that toys can help spark through imaginative play, creativity, deduction and spatial reasoning? Well, this can happen if there’s not a diversity of toys.
The normalization of social norms based on gender is made worse when race is added to the equation. In the 1940s, the famous “Dolls Test” was conducted by psychologists Drs. Kenneth B. Clark and Mamie P. Clark. The test was done to determine the development of racial identification and racial preference in Black children. The study found that Black children preferred white dolls over black dolls. The younger children, ages 3-5, were more likely to prefer white dolls. This is a critical developmental time for children. During the ages of 2-4, children begin to internalize racial bias. This is the same age when many children are playing with dolls and stuffed animals.
Children learn about racial differences at a young age. As shown by the “Dolls Test,” children internalize racial bias which can be reinforced by images represented in toys or media. Children who see limited images of themselves can internalize that who they are isn’t normal but instead what is valued and normalized are white images, i.e. white dolls.
I watched as other customers walked into the store and wondered if they had the same thoughts about the dolls. Did they notice the overwhelming lack of diversity in the dolls? I visited the store again and noticed there were other toys on display in the front. There was a display of different types of trucks. So, not only did the store set up gender based toy displays, there was a possibility that a girl of color wouldn’t even see herself reflected in any of the toy options.
I reached out to my local store to share my concerns. My hope is they will look into this issue and work to improve the options available for all children. I have no issue with white dolls. I grew up playing with them and so do many other children. The issue I have is the paucity of diverse dolls available to purchase, especially during the holiday season. Again, it is possible the dolls of color TJ Maxx did have for sell were purchased but there are still a lot of white dolls. How many Black dolls did they sell in the two days I visited the store?
My hope is this is a limited experience from one store but each store should be aware of how they practice and what their toy displays are saying or not saying about the importance of diversity. My hope is not to shame TJ Maxx, but that someone might read this essay and have an “aha” moment. Stores need to stock dolls of color, to better represent and make diversity and inclusion important.
As I was researching background material for this blog post, I was pleased to learn that in May 2019, The Toy Association developed a Diversity and Inclusion Committee with the “aim to build awareness of and provide best practices for creating diversity within toy company's mission, workforce, products and content development.” I applaud their efforts but why has it taken so long? It’s 2019!
Wishing you all a Happy Holiday Season!
