Black Barbie goes Natural
Growing up as a child Barbie was the pinnacle of my existence. With
each new report card, birthday, and Christmas holiday I awaited the chance to pick out my pretty new doll. The endless aisles of multi shade mini women made my heart flutter with gladness. The smell of the plastic hair and body, all the little shoes and clothes, the dream house and of course the hair.
Every little girl was their own hair stylist with their Barbie. I remember giving my favorite Barbie a short bob, or the pain I felt when my baby sister left Keisha with a buzz cut. As with all things, hair is very important to a woman even as a developing young girl. We all wanted the doll with the long flowing hair to accessorize and personalize as our best friend.
It has been a while since I put down my last Barbie at the ripe age of 13 but a recent trip down the nostalgic doll aisle of Target flooded my memory bank. Among the Polly Pockets, Barbie and her many careers, and her handsome companion Ken was the Barbie Basics Collectors Edition.
These little black dressed draped fashionistas are marketed to the modern women who are still young at heart.
Among the usual peach toned and cafe au lait childhood friends stood the darkest Barbie made to date.
Lean, mocha skin toned with short-cropped afro hair
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Her rich skin tone paired with her TWA made my heart have the same flutter it used to when I was nine years old! Overjoyed I began to look for other dolls that may have our beloved natural hair style. I then stumbled upon the Target exclusive Collection Red doll. She was a caramel complexion with a medium-sized blonde curly afro.
beautiful hair and highlights
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There are a total of three Black dolls in the Black Label collection however, the other 2 sport waist length straight hair. Even though these dolls are marketed for 14 and up consumers I think their looks should be introduced to younger girls for them to see beautiful Black Barbie’s with natural hair.
If you teach a girl early on that there is nothing wrong with their hair texture or length they will more than likely carried that instilled esteem with them throughout life. And what better way to start the process then with the iconic girl’s toy.
It is important to note that the first Black Barbie (that wasn’t named something besides Barbie) was released in 1980 with a short curly afro type style! She was re-released in 2009 to celebrate Barbie’s 50th Anniversary.
retro chic rocking her sequins and afro!
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I am definitely going to purchase one for myself to give to my future daughter or niece to show her natural hair is not ugly or shameful.
What do you think of the natural hair Black Barbie? Would you purchase one for yourself or daughter?
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HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY HAPPY HAPPY JOY! Of course Barbie is timeless pop culture, EVERY GIRL wants a Barbie as a child and that desire and emulation has spanned generations and continues to grow. As the mother of a child who struggles with accepting her own natural hair, I’m super excited to see Barbie sporting the looks that my daughter and I wear. She MUST know that her natural hair is not a cultural outlier, it’s just another way in which we can display our beauty…and beauty is exactly what it is. I will certainly be purchasing one for my daughter! And one for my mom who collects Black Barbies. Thanks so much for sharing this article and I will be sharing it with anyone who will listen! LOL
BUYING ONE TOMORROW…or whenever I find it. Thinking of even buying 2. SHE’S BEAUTIFUL!
I have to say that I think many generations of black women would have been seriously impacted if we had these black Barbies with afros and kinky curls as options when we were children. Barbie has been influential in the lives of children since the beginning. The subliminal messages sent by the makers of Barbie, Disney princesses and other major dolls and characters don’t go away easily. It makes me wonder “What If?”…
[...] Afros & Accessories: Bald/TWA Bridal Edition posted at Naturally ME!. Tarin Boone presents Black Barbie goes Natural « Naturally ME! posted at Naturally ME!. Jennifer Jones presents Halle Berry Hairstyles posted at Smile Heaven, [...]
This is such an awesome article. I came up on it after I saw an article on Afrobellas tumblr. I then googled afro Barbie and voila. I didn’t know they had a black Barbie with a fro in 1980. My family bought me what was supposed to be a black Barbie when I was a kid. I was not having it. First off her name was Christie. I didn’t ask for Christie. I asked for Barbie and Barbie is not black. Maybe if they had named her Barbie it would been easier for me to take. To be honest I was horribly dissappointed when I got black dolls. Hopefully this will be able to circumvent that whole thing. Showing images of attractive, beautiful, sexy black women can help to old the minds of little girls in a positive light. It might even help out with the problem of the images that black men see as beautiful while growing up. They play a crucial role in a womans perception of herself (especially after dating age).
I was elated when I walked into Marshall’s the other day and saw on display all of these beautiful and unique dolls. Not only did they have black Barbies in every shade (but their features were clearly more African American than a typical Anglo Barbie) and not only that it appeared as though Mattel were trying to make an effort to incorporate all different types of beauty…I saw red haired dolls, brunettes, Asians with Asian feautures, and black in all shades with varying hair textures. I have a biracial daughter so she will grow up to be some kind of in-between with me and her father. It’s important for me to find a doll that not only looks like her but dolls of various cultures and ethnicities that reflect the multicultural world we live in as well as her diverse heritage and background. I promise you that my daughter will own every black Barbie of every shade and hair type as well as blonde, hispanic, and Asian dolls as well. I want it to be normal to her to see that people are all different and all beautiful. I especially love the fact that these dolls are wearier their hair various ways and showing off natural looks. My daughter is lucky because her whole family wears natural hair so she will always see black hair as unique and beautiful in various curl patterns. I also want to point out Mattel’s new line called S.I.S (So In Style) which are a line of all black dolls (not named Barbie though) in varying complexions. My favorite is Trichelle because she wear curly poofy hair and has a complexion similar to my daughters. Glad that we’re finally starting to come around…and natural hair on Barbies not only positively impacts our children but in my personal opinion natural hair and curls not only look better in real life but on dolls as well.