Dollcraft

I am white women. I collect dolls of color. I try to do it for good reasons. I grew up with Barbies. My sister and I only had one black doll- a 1990's Steven (black Ken). In our stories he was married to our one black-haired doll, a Kira. (She could be interpreted as Asian/Pacific Islander.) No adult told us those two belonged together, or that Steven shouldn't date the white blonde dolls. (And we were certainly not taught that dolls of color were bad or ugly.) I was raised to be "colorblind," but when you never talk or think about racial issues, bad messages can be sent accidentally. These are often subconscious messages, or schema . Accidental Race Lessons White is normal. White is beautiful. White is good. I know these may sound over the top, especially if you are a white person raised like me. Give me a chance to break it down. I'll use myself as a prime example, but hopefully I can show this happens. (Perhaps you had a different life exper...

When I started collecting dolls, I felt hesitant about the Monster High line. I don't love inhuman skin tones or oversized heads, and short skirts aren't my thing (although I firmly believe people should wear what they want without being slut-shamed.) Also, they are super fancy and wear lots of make-up, and I'm kind of a plain girl. But, they are well articulated, and some looked interesting. But I could buy just one... right? My Monster High gang Cleo deNile was my first Monster High doll. I was drawn to her because she doesn't look like a monster. She's the "daughter of the mummy" but looks like an Egyptian girl who is still alive. She's gorgeous. I couldn't stop looking at her and photographing her. Next, I was a bit more daring- Robecca is a robot with adorable steam-punk fashion sense. But honestly, when I got her in the mail, I was disappointed. Her face is a little too much like Cleo's to be unique, and her unique aspects seem...