In the 90s, there were no black dolls but now, they have become an item in the market, helping young African children to better appreciate their looks even by the source of their entertainment. Now, Maite Makgoba believes that the kids deserve a better version of the black dolls as she goes into the manufacturing of more appealing black dolls.
Maite Makgoba is the founder of Childish Trading and Manufacturing, a small business in South Africa, responsible for these new looking dolls that have trendy outfits with an impressive fro. While the dolls are actually assembled in China, the styling and packaging of the doll takes place in Johannesburg before distribution to Independent wholesalers or retailers.
In a report published on The Guardian, Maite Makgoba explains the need for the creation of Momppy Mpoppy as the doll is named , “We want kids to see beauty in Mpoppy, to see themselves while playing with her. Dolls are often white, people in magazines are white, even in a country like South Africa where the majority are black. Black children are confronted with growing up in a world that does not represent them, everything is skewed towards whiteness.”
Still in that report, consumers have begun to react to the production of the dolls as a30-year old mother of two, Nokuthula Maseko says, “I like the fact that the doll looks like my kids, in a world where the standards of beauty are often liked to Caucasian features. This is a big social movement … it can help prevent body image insecurity among children”. She however stated that she was holding on to the white dolls as her kids have white friends at school and it is only right to maintain realism by making them aware of the fact that there are different races in the world.
Black or whit edolls, what effect do you think it has on the psychology of a child?
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Content Image via Leonardo Angelucci for Getty Images
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