Mattel Introduces Black Barbies, to Mixed Reviews

There is a So In Style hairstyling set so girls can curl, straighten and style their dolls' hair over and over. (It costs $24.99, more than a pair of dolls at $19.99.)

This photo released by Mattel shows "Barbie So In Style" shows the Trichelle and Janessa dolls. (AP Photo/Mattel)

(AP)

That is troubling to Sheri Parks, an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland in College Park, because it actively involves girls in the process of straightening hair. She worries that it reinforces the message that there is something wrong with natural hair.

"Black mothers who want their girls to love their natural hair have an uphill battle and these dolls could make it harder," Parks said in an e-mail.

Aside from the hair, some black women are concerned about the dolls' thin frames. Barbie, which celebrated her 50th birthday in March, has for years come under fire for promoting an unrealistic body image, with her long legs, tiny waist and large breasts.

While white girls also deal with body-image issues, Kumea Shorter-Gooden, co-author of "Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America," believes Barbie has a more negative impact on black girls. They are already struggling with messages that "black skin isn't pretty and our hair is too kinky and short," she said.

Despite those complaints, Mattel seems to have gotten several things right.

Andrea Slaughter, 38, a mom of two in Newnan, Ga., said she likes how the designer highlighted values that are critical in the black community, such as education and mentoring.

Sheila Adams Gardner, 41, a mother of three in Woodbridge, Va., praised the varying skin tones. She said when her daughter was 4, she became very self-conscious about being lighter than everyone else in her family.

"She has always had African-American dolls, but rarely dolls with skin like her own," she said. "Often the lighter dolls were Hispanic or Indian. It was very heartwarming to look at a series of African-American Barbies and hear my daughter, now ll, exclaim, 'She looks like me!'"