Playing .. with dolls
Went to York today for some teacher's workshops ..for which my participation in will gain me a certificate to put in my portfolio - basically the only reason I went because why else would I waste a precious Saturday, that and the fact that the workshops were only $6.00 :D
The first workshop I had signed up for was Shakespeare + Drama which turned out to be really interesting though I don't know how useful. The leader of the workshop, an actor/teacher who was pretty enthusiastic so maybe that's what made it more interesting. We particpated in a lot of "acting games" that I might one day try with future high school English students if I'm feeling ambitious. Anyways the second workshop called Supporting Reading, was a total bore. The lady in charge kept droning on about statistics and using scientific examples for reading strategies. The only thing that kept me awake was a friend who had signed up for the same one.
Anyways I was just looking through one of the catalogues I picked up at the education resource fair that they had going on at the same time (think Toys R Us catalogue but more detailed), and noticed something very interesting in the "doll" section. No more is it just your regular white coloured baby doll and black coloured baby doll... dolls now feature "authentic ethnic facial and skin tone attributes" ..well this is what they had (in their words):
- Caucasian Boy
- Caucasian Girl
- Caucasion No-Sex Doll
- African Boy
- African Girl
- African No-Sex Doll
- Asian Boy
- Asian Girl
- Latino Boy
- Latino Girl
Apparently you can order dolls just in plain body (the No-Sex option I assume), or anatomically correct dolls, though the plain body ones seem to be limited to the first two categories. I don't know what it is but maybe because I grew up with baby dolls that had no sexual parts made me find the anatomically correct dolls a little disturbing. I miss my good old Cabbage Patch dolls. But it makes sense for kids to play with dolls with the correct body parts right? And maybe in another couple of years they'll have a brown skinned Indian doll?
I have to admit though that I had a huge collection of dolls as a kid (being the eldest has it's advantages so I always got everything I wanted) and even though there was always the option of buying a black coloured say Barbie, all my dolls had white skin. And I never had a problem with that. I do remember once my cousin came over and got upset because all my Barbies had blond hair .. but what can I do I mean they always gave the blond haired Barbies pink clothes and I LOVED PINK. I still do!
Another thing I found interesting was that the pictures in the catalogue featured a couple of little boys playing with the dolls. My dad would say they're trying to make those boys into girls. But that's another topic and this post is getting too long. And so today's posting is dedicated to my 10 year old brother who hates dolls. Right now my brother is playing with his toy cars .. I can hear him making "vroom" noises. I love him!
P.S I feel a strong urge to go dress my Barbies and rearrange my Barbie house :D
The first workshop I had signed up for was Shakespeare + Drama which turned out to be really interesting though I don't know how useful. The leader of the workshop, an actor/teacher who was pretty enthusiastic so maybe that's what made it more interesting. We particpated in a lot of "acting games" that I might one day try with future high school English students if I'm feeling ambitious. Anyways the second workshop called Supporting Reading, was a total bore. The lady in charge kept droning on about statistics and using scientific examples for reading strategies. The only thing that kept me awake was a friend who had signed up for the same one.
Anyways I was just looking through one of the catalogues I picked up at the education resource fair that they had going on at the same time (think Toys R Us catalogue but more detailed), and noticed something very interesting in the "doll" section. No more is it just your regular white coloured baby doll and black coloured baby doll... dolls now feature "authentic ethnic facial and skin tone attributes" ..well this is what they had (in their words):
- Caucasian Boy
- Caucasian Girl
- Caucasion No-Sex Doll
- African Boy
- African Girl
- African No-Sex Doll
- Asian Boy
- Asian Girl
- Latino Boy
- Latino Girl
Apparently you can order dolls just in plain body (the No-Sex option I assume), or anatomically correct dolls, though the plain body ones seem to be limited to the first two categories. I don't know what it is but maybe because I grew up with baby dolls that had no sexual parts made me find the anatomically correct dolls a little disturbing. I miss my good old Cabbage Patch dolls. But it makes sense for kids to play with dolls with the correct body parts right? And maybe in another couple of years they'll have a brown skinned Indian doll?
I have to admit though that I had a huge collection of dolls as a kid (being the eldest has it's advantages so I always got everything I wanted) and even though there was always the option of buying a black coloured say Barbie, all my dolls had white skin. And I never had a problem with that. I do remember once my cousin came over and got upset because all my Barbies had blond hair .. but what can I do I mean they always gave the blond haired Barbies pink clothes and I LOVED PINK. I still do!
Another thing I found interesting was that the pictures in the catalogue featured a couple of little boys playing with the dolls. My dad would say they're trying to make those boys into girls. But that's another topic and this post is getting too long. And so today's posting is dedicated to my 10 year old brother who hates dolls. Right now my brother is playing with his toy cars .. I can hear him making "vroom" noises. I love him!
P.S I feel a strong urge to go dress my Barbies and rearrange my Barbie house :D
posted by 'liya @ 6:13 p.m.
13 comments
13 Comments:
At 11:31 a.m.,
Anonymous said…
Wow I think thast a little extreme at such a young age. Think of all the parents who have to explain to these kids that boys and girls are different like that. Did it say anatomically correct? If not it could mean that the boy ones have short hair the girl one has long hair and the no sex one has like medium hair which can be a boy or a girl! One other thing I find funny is that you want an Indian Doll! You always tell me that your South African and your different yet u didnt say you wanted a South African one you said you want an Indian one! HA!
At 12:50 p.m.,
'liya said…
I didn't say I wanted an Indian doll I said maybe in a few years they might have one! Aimed at children who are BROWN. Read my words carefully!!! I would LOVE to have a south african doll though I don't know how you can distinguish that from other colours!
And the hair thing doesn't relate to "anatomically correct" -- that means body parts like you know what makes a girl a girl and a boy a boy :D Yeesh you should know, you're the one doing courses like physiology and anatomy!!
They had pictures, which is what made it weird. But maybe I'm just used to undressing dolls with no specific parts. I think life was easier when I was a child.
At 2:56 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
r u going to be teaching next year? dont u have to go to teachers college?
At 5:22 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
is agent ur boyfriend?
At 5:55 p.m.,
'liya said…
Um Anonymous is that your comment twice in one day or are the last two comments by two different people? AND are you the same anonymous person who asked about my sister?
You seem to be interested in my life, I wish you could tell me your name so I could give you some answers :)
At 6:45 p.m.,
sara said…
I think its Leila!
At 6:50 p.m.,
Nauman said…
As a boy, I grew up playing with cars and construction stuff. I couldn't stand dolls and like most boys, I found the dolls to be quite stereotypical. I suppose this with ethnic dolls they may be able to overcome that barrier...
I always liked the EZ-Bake-Ovens and things like that - I found it kinda cool that a girl could potentially make her own cookies or muffins. I probably found it cool only because my mom would get angry when we ate all of the cookies or muffins within a few hours of purchase, lol.
At 8:35 p.m.,
'liya said…
Haha if it's Leila then she's a dumb fool what else can I say!
Nauman why do I get the feeling that you had your own EZ bake oven?
:D
At 10:02 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
u called me a dumb fool...now answer me ;)
At 11:22 p.m.,
Nauman said…
Naah, I didn't have an EZ-Bake-Oven but I sometimes wished I had a little sister who could have gotten that toy so that I'd have a legitimate reason to play with it.
(I've always wanted to make my own muffins or cookies... overload them with chocolate chips...)
At 11:31 p.m.,
'liya said…
Don't worry Nauman your future wife will make you plenty of muffins and cookies if you're nice to her. She loves to bake! And she's an excellent cook. I know ;)
Anonymous I'm really curious as to who you are and I'd love to answer your questions but that wouldn't be fair if you didn't answer mine, since this is my blog and all! ...I really doubt you're Leila. She's not the type of person who'd use a winky face.
At 11:54 p.m.,
Becky L said…
yes, i find the "anatomically correct" dolls to be a bit odd.
I used to work at my college library, and i was looking thru the children's books. there was one called "the holes in my nose." it was quite disturbing. talked about boogers, bloody noses, so on. BUT THEN, it talked about the OTHER holes in your body. and it had a sketch of a naked boy and girl, showing their 'holes.'
yeah, i wanted to throw the book out.
At 4:51 p.m.,
'liya said…
Becky L, your comment made me laugh because it seems like the theme of "holes" is coming up in one of my classes over and over. Poor kid who picks up the book to learn about noses is in for a surprise lol.
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