Source: Walmart

Mattel has been caught in the middle of a lot of controversy surrounding their Barbie dolls lately. Earlier this month we reported on a group of Harlem moms petitioning for the company to offer more diverse Barbie merchandise. Now they’re being slammed for their relaunched “Dolls of the World” line. Mattel says that each doll included in the line comes with a passport and most come with an “animal friend.” Seems pretty harmless, right? Well, according to NPR, the line’s “Mexico Doll” has triggered much criticism.

Many have come out blasting Mattel for the Mexico-inspired doll, claiming that the company was being “stereotypical” when they selected her clothing and accessories.

“A little stereotypical? Mexico Barbie is wearing a traditional Mexican dress, has a chihuahua, and a passport,” one tweeter questioned.

Mattel has insisted that there was no offense intended in the production of the doll and that many of the country-inspired Barbies come with animals.

The company’s issued statement on the controversy, which can be found on their website reads:

“The Barbie Collector Dolls of the World line was launched in 1980 and is the largest and longest-running series in the history of the Barbie brand. Each doll wears an ensemble inspired by the traditional costume and fashion of the country. In 2012, the Barbie Collector Dolls of the World line launched dolls from Argentina, Australia, Chile, China, Holland India, Ireland and Mexico. Every doll in the current line includes a ‘passport’ and stamps as well as an animal friend providing additional play value.

We consulted with the Mexican Embassy on the Dolls of the World Mexico Barbie, especially with respect to the selection of the Chihuahua. Our goal with the Dolls of the World Mexico Barbie, as well as the entire Dolls of the World Collection, is to celebrate cultural differences and tradition, introducing girls to the world through play.”

The dolls do appear to be a great way to educate children about the world around them. Even the interactive website for the collection seems to be very informative, offering interesting facts about each country that a doll has been released for. But while we are on the subject, it’s interesting to note that so far, there aren’t any Black dolls included in the relaunched collection.

Do you think people are making an issue out of nothing or is there a valid argument to be made about “Mexico Barbie” and the collection in general?

Source: StyleBlazerc.com

From BlackVoices

Channeling Nicki Minaj is no longer reserved for Halloween.

Elle magazine’s latest cover girl has launched a new digital program on her beauty site called ”Minaj à Moi” that allows fans to instantly “Minaj-ify their look.” Translation: wear cotton candy-colored wigs and lipstick colors.

Nicki rips another page out of Barbie’s book with a makeover tool that features her signature hairstyles, fake eyelashes, puckered pouts, sunglasses, hoop earrings and a nameplate necklace, of course.

Read more on BlackVoices.com.

What can I say? I love Barbies. I don’t collect any, and most of the ones I held on to for dear life as a child are somewhere crying out for help in my parents’ garage, probably a nosy cat’s play thing, so I’m over the obsession I had with them for so many years as a young’n. But every now and then, when I see photos of elegantly dressed black Barbies, read about them being lauded in magazines overseas, or watch them become fun art exposes on different forms of black life, I can’t help but fall back in love. There were so many black Barbies back in the day and still today, and to take a walk down memory lane, I thought I’d show you some of the most popular ones and flyest ones from over the years. So yes, you can be a kid again–at least for a few minutes.

Shutterstock

By Nonyabizness

Kids. They grow up so fast don’t they?

I can remember my niece as a tiny little thing. Toothy smile, long hair covered in balls and barrettes and things, a love for all things Barbie and an appreciation for dance. She grew up fast before my eyes and changed from a shy but happy young child with a bed covered in Build-A-Bears, to a quiet (when with family of course) young adult with a penchant for texting like crazy. Hell, during a family gathering, if you’re not looking, she’ll slip on her headphones and act like nobody else is around. Yep, she grew up fast all right.

But I didn’t really realize all of that until I started following her on Instagram. While Facebook has always been more about statuses and a few pictures here and there, same for Twitter, Instagram is all about photos, and the more photos she puts up, the more I want to pick up my phone, call my brother (her father) and say, “Uh, come get your child!” I’ve found on my homepage images of her in a towel straight out the shower, sports bra and tights shots, booty in the camera and hip all out to the side photos. Though 18 (she JUST turned 18), she’s been acting way too grown for me.

And if the half-dressed pictures weren’t enough, there are times when I can tell she’s doing the most to receive compliments from her followers. Male, female–whoever. She’ll post a picture with a crazy face and say that she knows she doesn’t look cute in it, but she wanted to take the photo anyway. In response, all of her young (and hell, who knows with Instagram. People can be 40-year-old trolls following you and you wouldn’t even know it) followers comment back saying she looks more than cute, that she’s fine, and so on and so forth (*shudders the thought*). And it was okay the first couple of times, but seeing as she posts about five photos a day in front of any mirror she can find (duck face included), it’s become a tad bit annoying. As quiet as she comes off face to face, she gets her Sasha Fierce on with her phone, talking crazy and reciting rap lyrics to her 500+ followers online. After weeks of watching all these shenanigans, I think I’m ready to help her bring that follower count down a bit.

But as sassy as she can be to my discomfort, in all honesty, she’s a more modern version of myself some years back when I let Facebook get the best of me as an 18-year-old. To this day, I can scroll through old photo albums of mine from freshman year of college to now and sometimes I have to shake my head at what I see. Not only was I being sassy like my niece (oh, but you would never catch me in my sports bra or in a towel trying to be seen), duck-lipping it up,  throwing my hip out there, and showing off my curves in a swimsuit, but I was also cursing like a sailor while joking with friends about these pictures. I was young and silly, acting a fool and loving it. But years later I cringe at my clothes, my poses, my once proud expletives and my behavior as a whole. And honestly, when I think about my own juvenile behavior in the past, I can’t help but give my niece a pass. She’s doing the same over-the-top (but maybe to an extreme) stuff I was trying my hand at when Facebook ruled the world and Twitter was just starting to make waves.

While I might have to pull her to the side and let her know a few things, I can’t fault her for doing the same things damn near everybody was doing back in the day when they got their hands on camera phones and cameras with decent megapixels. Plus, her grades are high, her dreams are big and she hasn’t done anything yet to make me feel like I have to be worried about her doing more than spending too much on Jordans and catching a speeding ticket. It’s about maturity. She’s young, she’ll learn. And she’ll grow and do better–I hope. So I’ll deal with the questionable if not obnoxious photos for now. I just can’t help but long for the days of the little girl in the white princess dress with her Barbies as she continues to grow into a saucy young lady with a passion for mirror shots.

Source: Photography by Obi

While perusing the “Intanetz” and checking out some of my favorite blogs, the good sistas at Black Girl With Long Hair directed my attention to Obi Nwokedi. The London-based photographer who loves shooting weddings, fashion and more was feeling bored not too long ago, and after being inspired by a Barbie and Ken wedding shoot and the black Barbie photoshoot in Italian Vogue recently, he decided to give black Barbie some extra razzle dazzle by throwing her and her black Ken a traditional Nigerian wedding. Word is, the shoot is modeled after a Yoruba wedding. As someone who has been in a couple of traditional Nigerian weddings (Edo ones though), I was blown away by the work Nwokedi put into this awesome photoshoot, as he scraped every corner of the Internet looking for the pieces used in the photography. Amazing, much? Here are just a couple of my favorites by the photographer, but if you want to see the whole mind-blowing collection, head over to Photography by Obi and have a joyful overload on all the intricate costumes and the posing these dolls do. Love it!

Photography by Obi

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shop.mattel.com

The ever career changing Barbie doll reaches a new level of ambition–she’s running for president. Forbes reports that the beloved childhood doll will announce her bid on Thursday and you can expect her to campaign in shelves everywhere starting in August.

Presidential Barbie is produced by Mattel in conjunction with The White House Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit that strives to encourage more women in politics. Tiffany Dufu, president of The White House Project notes that women are now 50 percent of the workforce and comprise the majority of college graduates in the US today, but traditional gender roles still deter women’s progress in high leadership roles.

“During play we begin to make connections with what we aspire to,” Dufu said to Forbes. “Barbie motivates girls to aspire to be anything—including President.”

According to Mattel, Barbie is still the top-selling doll in the US. Ninety percent of girls ages three to 10 own at least one Barbie, although the average girl owns about 12 Barbie dolls. She is also big overseas, with Barbie sales increasing 12 percent in the fourth quarter, which is the biggest growth rate in over ten years.

Presidential Barbie will be available in four different races: African-American, Hispanic, Asian and Caucasian. Unlike her predecessor’s she wears weighted wedge heels that allow her to stand on any flat surface. Her power pink suit with red white and blue accents is designed by Chris Benz, one of the designers who has also outfitted First Lady Michelle Obama.

“Being President culminates Barbie’s career path,” Cathy Cline, Mattel’s  VP of Barbie Brand Marketing in North America tells Forbes. “She stands for inspiring girls to be informed and involved in their local communities. We hope that one day we’ll have a female president standing in the Oval Office.”

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An African-American natural hair group is planning to hand out Barbies to girls at Booker T. Washington apartments in Columbus, GA, for Christmas, but before giving away the dolls, the women plan to give them a bit of a hair makeover.

“When you look for dolls, they all have straight hair,” group member Candice McBride told the Ledger-Enquirer. “It’s tricky even to find ones with brown eyes,” she added noting the European features visible on most dolls despite the fact that they come in 50 nationalities.

Using an online tutorial for halo or rotini hairstyles for Barbies, the ladies will transform the texture of the dolls’ hair via pipe cleaners, end papers, and boiling water.

“We wanted to show the girls that basically, it’s okay the way God made you,” said Jennifer Henderson, another member of the group. Henderson said her 2-year-old daughter, Imani, isn’t into Barbies just yet, but she does like dolls.

“She’s into baby dolls. I’ll brush her hair and she’ll brush her doll’s hair,” she said. “She wants to do what she sees me doing.”

The ladies plan to make over 40 dolls before the holidays using this recipe. What do you think of this idea for making over straight-haired Barbie dolls? Have you ever tried this?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Nicki Minaj is probably over the moon about Mattel’s latest creation, a Barbie version in her likeness.

This doll won’t be sold in stores so you don’t have to worry about fighting other parents in stores this Christmas. Instead, it will be auctioned off at CharityBuzz.com.

Get the full story at BlackEnterprise.com.

Nicki’s got a lot to be amped about these days. She garnered herself some very exciting Grammy nominations yesterday, including a nod for Best New Artist! I know Lil Kim is somewhere steaming at all this success, preparing her next diss record (kidding!). But while she is doing good with all that career wise, let’s see if her outfit to last night’s Grammy Nominations Concert was a winner or a loser.

The woman of many personalities came to the event decked out in a skintight blue dress that gave her a lot of lift (if you know what I mean), and accessorized the look with a pair of multi-colored neon pumps, an iced-out watch and bracelet, as well as her signature “Barbie” necklace (did you notice her nails matched her dress?). Up top, she went for a pink wig with blonde tips and those blunt bangs we’re so used to. I tell ya, nobody rocks a wig like Nicki does these days…

So I must say, I do like this look on her. I think the color is beautiful, and for once her wig isn’t overly distracting. The shoes are a smart choice as they match in a way, but also add a bit of extra neon pop to her already bright ensemble. The makeup is fresh with her signature lip shade, and she just looks…normal. And that’s not actually a bad thing Nicki! The over-the-top-tacky-to-look-cool-gimmick thing can get pretty annoying actually, so I’m a fan of this toned down version of her. A very colorful look for a very colorful artist. I’d steal it (just maybe not so tight dress wise). But what do you think? Steal it, or stop it?

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Barbie has just been wilding out over these past few years, huh folks? I’m not mad at it though. While the Mattel doll has always been pretty controversial, over the years, things have become a bit too real for some people. She’s had pregnant friends, had a tramp stamp on her back, inflatable boobs, and now, she’s covered in ink! On top of that, the edgy Barbie also has a pink bob (is that Nicki’s wig??)  and wears Hot Topic-esque clothing with a side of leopard print.

The doll costs about $50, and according to Mattel, is marketed at adults who are fans of collecting the miniature women. As the brand said in a statement, “Barbie has been dressed by more than 70 fashion designers over the years. Many of Barbie’s most pop-culture couture outfits have been designed for the adult doll collector.” While the doll may seem cool for older people, many parents are NOT feeling this new look for a doll that will be seen by their kids. In an interview with the New York Daily News, Queens father Tom Gurry said he would lay the smack down on his 11-year-old daughter if she tried to come home with a tattoo, or the doll:

“I’d kill my daughter if she came home with a tattoo. Barbie’s supposed to be a role model for young girls, right? I don’t want my daughter looking up to someone like that.”

Another parent, mom, Tiffany Newkirk, said that now that her own teenage daughter is bothering her about getting a tattoo, she really doesn’t think a doll like this is a good idea to put out there for kids to view:

“I don’t think that’s an appropriate toy for a young girl. You don’t want your kids to think tattoos are a good idea at such a young age because they last a lifetime.”

Okay.  The sensitivity level out here is getting waaaay too high.