Does Anyone Remember The Marvelous World Of Shani & Her Friends Dolls By Mattel?
Posted by: Annika Harris
Filed in:
style
10:20AM, Thursday October 22nd 2009
Mattel recently released a line of black Barbie dolls that is supposed to be more authentic. The So In Style by Barbie dolls, developed by Stacy McBride-Irby, have fuller lips, curlier hair, and three distinct skin tones. Some have criticized these dolls for not being authentic enough and having long brown hair, while others have praised them, saying they’re a step towards changing beauty ideals and giving black girls a positive representation of themselves. But this isn’t the first time Mattel has released a line of dolls to represent black women specifically.
One of my favorite Barbie collections growing up was the Marvelous World of Shani & Her Friends, which featured three dolls in varying skin tones and hair colors (the straight hair texture, though, was similar to other Barbie dolls). Like Barbie, Shani was the ringleader of her crew, which included Nichelle (my favorite for her dark skin and jet black hair) and Asha (who I stopped liking after giving her a really bad haircut). Unlike Barbie, though, the Shani dolls seemed more cosmopolitan, moving in swanky yet artsy circles. They would never have been caught dead in a pink dream house, preferring a renovated loft instead.
Mattel continues to use the face molds of the Shani dolls for collectors’ Barbie dolls, especially ones by Byron Lars, so they haven’t completely disappeared. But what always sticks out in my mind with the old and new lines of black Barbie dolls is that they’re not really Barbies. The main dolls are never given the Barbie name and instead are called something slightly exotic. Are they not good enough to be Barbie? Is Mattel trying to preserve the white image of Barbie while at the same time catering to and profiting off black girls?
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MissChaotic
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 09:24 am: [report]
I don’t think they’re trying to preserve the whiteness of Barbie, but instead give the world a black doll line that will in time be just as well known as Barbie.
_jsw_
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 09:31 am: [report]
I’m not sure that being called “Barbie” is something to which a doll should aspire.
qnzmami718
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 09:39 am: [report]
they cant call a black doll barbie just like they couldnt call a hispanic doll barbie (if there were one) because barbie is barbie. shes already white. barbie cant be more than one race seperately. get it? tht would like mess with kids heads.. how can one “person” ie barbie be different colors, seperately? tht just doesnt make sense. and hey at least there IS a black barbie.. i dont remember there ever being a hispanic barbie..
*sam*
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 09:48 am: [report]
@qnzmami718: your argument would make sense if there weren’t a slew of other “Barbie” dolls that weren’t Barbie. What about Kit, or Barbie’s other friends/little sisters? They’re all branded with the “Barbie” logo even though they’re not the same person.
lea322
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 09:56 am: [report]
@qnzmami718: Barbie is a brand. The brand’s lead is also named Barbie, but there is an entire collection of dolls under the heading “Barbie”.
lewomack
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 10:44 am: [report]
I thought Teresa was the Hispanic Barbie?
impoddity
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 10:59 am: [report]
I had a black Barbie doll when I was a kid. I cut her hair into a bob. She was sassy! Then I tried to cut my own hair…. Couldn’t quite achieve the same level of sassiness, and it took ages to grow back out. Ah, the joys of childhood.
Frederica Bimble
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 11:56 am: [report]
I bought a Barbie about 15 years ago which had braids and very dark skin. It was from a series of college cheerleaders. I gave it to someone but I remember that Barbie was great looking. Also, the question of whether or not Mattel is trying to preserve the “whiteness” is moot. There is only one actual “Barbie” who changes with the whim of the creator but she has many friends - Skipper, Teresa, dottie, PJ, etc.
Mattel seems to have released this set as something different but from the Barbie World. It is surprising, at first, that Mattel didn’t just have her as a friend of Barbie but then you have to consider that by doing it as a whole new “world” Mattel has all that scope to make money from the different dolls and consumers can buy into the world and not just add one or two of them to Barbie’s world.
I just watched the video with the creator of the dolls. They are so much cooler than Barbie. Must. not. go. buy. doll. from. internet….............
Frederica Bimble
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 11:58 am: [report]
Trichelle is the best one, by the way…...
hlnbabe
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 12:05 pm: [report]
Brand: Barbie, Mermaid Barbie, Horseback Barbie…
Subbrand: Kit, PJ, Shani…
You guys are putting way too much thought behind Mattel’s thinking.
They are looking at market share and seeing where profitability exists. They look at their share of the doll market and see who are their biggest competitors and why. Do they make dolls with hinged hips and brushable hair? Yes, they do. Why is their product selling so well? Because its black? Oh then we need to capitalize on that part of the market to boost our market share.
OR they look at their Mass market stores (i.e. Target, Walmart, etc) in certain predominantly minority areas and see that Barbie doesn’t sell particularly well. Increase sales by creating a Subbrand line that hits the correct demographics. Sell less Barbies in those stores and more Black Barbies, bam, more money.
Mattel isn’t trying to make social strides. It’s trying to make $$$$$$$$.
bethlynn00
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 03:57 pm: [report]
I like the new black Barbie’s I just bought my niece one for her birthday. I think that Barbie will always be associated with a doll that is white with long blonde hair, blue eyes and no waist. I am just happy that Mattel has decided to even try to cater to black girls, when other companies still seem to fight to show little to no diversity. I hope this trend continues and we see more diversity among the dolls. I also had a Teresa doll and I had no idea she was suppose to be the Latina friend of Barbie for years! I thought she was just a brunette version when I got her, she even almost had the same skin tone as Barbie. Same with her boyfriend Steve, I think that was the male Latino dolls name or it’s the black guy’s name, I forget, but i still didn’t know either was Latino. Was there ever an Asian friend of Barbie’s? I don’t remember ever seeing one.
Laurel
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 07:46 pm: [report]
Barbie had (has?) an Asian friend called Kira, I think. I used to have one when I was little.
canadiancutie
wrote on October 22 2009 @ 08:41 pm: [report]
I used to like Skipper because she was closer to me in age and had smaller boobs.
wild-ting
wrote on October 23 2009 @ 06:51 am: [report]
I’m with canadiancuite. I liked my Skipper doll best.
As for the other comments to this article: Laughter was brewing, and when I got to the sixth comment I erupted and busted out laughing.
ChocoBoo
wrote on October 23 2009 @ 07:05 am: [report]
I had Shana (the black bass player) and Aja (the ‘Asian’ guitar player) from the Jem & The Holograms collection.
Honestly, I think Mattel is just ca$hing in on the fact that “it’s cool to be black again” thanks to Pres. Obama etc..
It’s been awhile since I’ve been to a toy store, but I can’t remember the last time Mattel showed any interest in bringing out a non-white doll, pre-Obama era.