The price of beauty in the world of Barbie

By Katrina Geenevasen

Retail giant Wal-Mart is being criticized for lowering the price of a black ballerina Barbie doll.

Was this a bad idea? So far, the move has been raising quite the controversy.

The price was cut nearly in half compared to the white version because it didn’t sell as well.

“Both are great dolls,” said the company’s spokesperson. However, “Pricing like items differently is a part of inventory management in retailing.”

A Harlem activist warms this move could cause “collateral damage.”

Does this have an impact on minorities? Does it send a message to society that white is more valued than black? It’s important to make this distinction, says Los Angeles sociology professor Lisa Wade.

The “implication of lowering the price is that it’s devaluing the black doll,” said Thelma Dye, the executive director of the Northside Center for Child Development.

Wal-Mart says its reason for lowering the price of the black dolls was because they are trying to clear space for the spring inventory.

Someone clearly wasn’t thinking straight when they put on those sale stickers.

They had to know if they lowered the price of the black doll, and didn’t lower the price of the white doll, they were going to face criticism. Realistically, they should have just cut their losses and made the prices the same.

The dolls are exactly similar. The only difference is the colour. So what message does this send to the black community? Does this move send the subliminal message they are worth less?

Society claims to be more tolerant of racial differences. There is a constant fight against racism. However, when a retail store lowers the prices of just the black doll, it does nothing but reinforce old ideals and beliefs.

And clear shelves, of course.

Interestingly enough, talk show queen Oprah Winfrey recently covered a story on minority groups and Barbie Dolls. The majority of young girls, regardless of their ethnicity, choose white dolls over black dolls because they fit the stereotypical mold of what is considered to be “pretty”. These little girls want to be like the tall, thin, blue eyed, blonde haired, fair-skinned Barbie. They don’t want to play with the Black or Asian dolls.

So whose fault is this? Do we place the blame on the shoulders of the media who present white girls as being more visually pleasing? Do we place the blame on the parents? Or, do we place the blame on Wal-Mart for lowering the price, therefore “devaluing blacks”?

Some may argue this is taking things a little too far.

Really, they are just dolls. Just plastic moulds of mini people living in a fantasy world of lipstick, endless amounts of tulle and pink Jeeps. It’s not real. Even white dolls don’t adequately represent Caucasians. If real women had legs as long and thin as Barbie’s, a waist as small as Barbie’s, and a chest as large as Barbie’s, they wouldn’t be able to stand up.

Indeed, they would fall right over, or at the very least, rely on their human version of the Ken doll to hold them up.

In the end, nobody is really “right” in this situation. It could be argued that Wal-Mart was wrong in putting the black Barbie’s on sale…but it could also be argued that the black community is taking things too far.

As the saying goes, it’s nothing personal. It’s just business.