I used to consider myself what author Barry Schwartz of "The Paradox of Choice" would call a maximizer. I was the person who would set out to buy the "perfect" sweater (for example) for the ultimate price and spend all winter doing so. I'd end up putting more time and resources into the dang sweater than necessary and, ultimately, not end up any happier with the eventual purchase than if I had simply settled for the so-so sweater found in October. I gleaned a lot from Schwartz's message of simplification of choices, and so I have tried to generalize this knowledge to toy purchases for Noemi.But our plight to find a babydoll for Noemi? Bloody ridiculous. I wanted a small babydoll who is Black, has a soft body but a plastic face and has eyes that open and close. What I didn't want? The complete commercialization or cheese-factor of most hot-pink and purple packaged girls' toys. No biggie, right? meh.
I set off for local establishments, frustrated to find that in a city comprised of over 80% racial minorities, I could not find one non-White baby doll. Next up: Etsy. Not so much. I found countless adorable rag dollies that I loved, but Noemi already has her lovely ragdoll, Yenet, named after a beloved nanny at her former orphanage. If you want your own Yenet, check out her Etsy site of a+dorable racially diverse dollies.
I considered giving up and just buying one of the spray-tan colored, polyester-clad dolls on the shelf at Toys R Us, but I decided to fight the good fight. And so I continued...
As I kicked my on-line search into high gear I was shocked to discover that many dolls of minority races are significantly higher in price. Go take a look on Amazon.com yourself. Same doll, same manufacturer, different color on that plastic skin=$20 more. Easily. I also found it interesting that most of the Black dolls had lighter skin than me, a direct descendant of the flippin' Mayflower itself. Half of those Anglo dollies looked like they had lost too much blood. Creepy. Sure the Black dolls had brown eyes and hair, but that was about it.
So this is where my post could turn into a discussion in the subtleties of racism meets supply and demand, but I won't go there. I'm sure that sermon has been preached before.
I just wanted a babydoll.
Sure, I found a number of websites that were helpful, but it just didn't seem like the number of tasteful options were out there for anyone seeking a non-Anglo doll. Eventually I found myself on the site of the well-known French company, Corolle. Hadn't thought to look them up at first because, well, um, they're French. But shame on me for making such assumptions, eh? It was here that I found Naima. The perfect little 12-inch, soft bodied, vanilla smelling, eye closing Naima. Not surprising that she was the only brown dollie in the collection, but at least the advertisement photo was of a cutie-pie brown baby. So I ordered her. We had her home in a few days; and though my intention was to hide her away for Noemi's soon-coming 2nd birthday I just couldn't do it. Noemi is in luv with her little Naima.
I am still a maximizer, apparently. But this time I am quite content with my purchase and happy that I did not settle. God speed, tasteful minority doll seekers--it's a rough ride out there for us maximizers.
4 comments:
Oh my goodness! Same problem here in Vancouver, Washington. Carter (almost 2) loves the baby doll at the gym and, since we're in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia, I thought it was a good time to get him his own little brown baby to help him prepare.
I too had to go to the internet after shopping in our Walmart and Target, surrounded by ethnic minorities. I realize that children don't really see the color difference until they are a little older, but it left me feeling self-absorbed to have never notice all the white babies lining the shelves before.
We settled for the Lucy mini-doll from Pottery Barn Kids. No open/close eyes or plastic face --- but much cuter than the cheesy Toys R Us heaps of plastic.
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/mini-baby-dolls/?pkey=x%7C4%7C2%7Cgirls-toys%7C3%7Cdoll%7C%7C0&cm_src=SCH
Come to think of it, though, she is not particularly dark-skinned. Especially compared to Tariku! Did you know that his father's name was Shanko - which means "the dark-skinned one!" I assume he was a lot darker than our caramel- shaded Lucy doll...
Off topic, how does the Oct. 16 weekend look for you guys? Steve will be in MI with Ben and Ellie, so I want to do something fun with the little ones...
R
love the adorable pony-tail that Sosi is sporting in the pics. i hear ya on the search for a black baby doll. had the same problem looking for one for my niece during our adoption problem. now i know who to go to to find one!
I only know of the corolle dolls because that is what our library has. But I hadn't known about the pricier dark skinned dolls. CRAZY.
And thank you for giving name to my way of shopping. A maximizer. I kinda like it. It suits. Being a maximizer of exquisite taste that you are, have you found a living area rug that is soft for little ones to play on, practical for keeping clean and easy on the eyes? I've gone blind internet shopping and I figure, why blaze the trail that other maximizers have taken before me?
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