Shopping for Dolls

Yesterday I went to KB Toys to get birthday presents for two of my nieces. My niece Eleanor (Shane's brother Brent's daughter) is turning one this month, and I wanted to get her a doll for her birthday. I began looking at all the dolls in hopes of finding one that resembled her a little bit. What I found was VERY disappointing, and I am going to write the toy companies to make them aware of this situation.

Eleanor is an adorable little girl whose mom is Asian-American (born in Taiwan and migrated when she was five) and whose dad is well, Shane's brother, white. So, Eleanor's skin is a little darker than Elizabeth's and her eyes are a beautiful dark shade of brown. She has a beautiful complexion, which we're all jealous of. So I began looking at all the doll choices and only found two: an extensive collection of white dolls, all of which had blue eyes, or a few African-American dolls, neither of which fit my purposes.

First of all, I could NOT believe that there were not any white dolls that did not contain blue eyes (how's that for all those double negatives?). I, for one, have brown eyes and most all my immediate family has brown eyes. Now that I am married into the "Family of Blue Eyes (literally EVERYBODY has blue eyes, including my own daughter), I'd never noticed that all of the white dolls in stores have blue eyes. Has anyone else noticed this? Where are the green eyes, hazel eyes, black eyes, grey eyes, and all the other beautiful colors we have? They make it seem as if every little girl who doesn't have blue eyes should wish she did have blue eyes. Because aren't the dolls supposed to be the most beautiful representation of humankind and they all have blue eyes?!! Duh!!

Second, I find it troubling that the only two choices for dolls are white or African-American. Don't get me wrong; I'm glad there are at least TWO choices when there used to be only one. But what about all those other people who do NOT have blue eyes and are NOT dark-skinned? What kinds of dolls can little girls like Eleanor find to love and cuddle? What about my next child who may have brown eyes? There aren't many choices for children (even though we claim to be such a diverse society).

Distraught, I left the aisle full of hundreds of different types of dolls (all white with blue eyes and a few African-American ones, of course) and wondered what I was going to do. Every little girl needs a doll! So I kept walking around and finally saw one more doll. I decided to get this one for Eleanor, even though it's not an Asian baby and even though it doesn't have dark eyes like Eleanor, and even though the skin is darker than her skin. The baby I found is actually a Hispanic baby doll. The only way I could tell was because the entire box is written in Spanish. So, I hope that this baby doll will suffice until I find another one worthy of Eleanor's beauty.