A Digression/Rant

Okay, this isn't really doll-related, except for the bit where it is, because a large part of my doll collection has its basis in Disney movies.

So let me rant for a moment about why this image is wrong. I've seen it floating around Pinterest, and it is pissing me off. 

It's late, and this may not be entirely coherent, but here goes.

I'm going to be charitable here and sidestep the entirely inaccurate assumption this person makes, that there were no people of color in Ye Olde Europe, and simply point the way to http://medievalpoc.tumblr.com. (Hint: Hans Christian Andersen started publishing fairy tales in 1835. Shakespeare's Othello - with an African title character- predates that by 230 years.)

Even if you assume that Europe is all white, all the time, this still doesn't get Disney off the whitewashing hook.

Disney has proven that they have no problem moving the setting of an established folk tale to a different time and place if it suits them (The Princess and the Frog, anyone - and The Emperor's  New Groove, for that matter).

Disney has furthermore established that they have no problem looking beyond Ye Olde European Fairy Tales for source material. They've done folk tales from non-European areas (Mulan, Aladdin), adaptations from stories that aren't traditional folk tales (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan, The Lion King if you count Hamlet as inspiration), and completely original stories (Lilo & Stitch, Bolt, Wreck-it Ralph). 

So what the hell is stopping Disney from taking another Grimm or Andersen story and setting it somewhere halfway across the world - or, better yet, taking a traditional folk tale from somewhere that isn't Europe? And don't give me the "European fairy tales are familiar" line - how many Middle-American white kids had really heard of Mulan before Disney released their version? That didn't stop Disney.

(And don't think I haven't noticed that the two major Disney movies set in Africa feature a) animals, b) white people, and c) stories based on white people's writing, but no actual African people or stories. Considering the cringeworthy depictions of Africans in the original Tarzan novel, that might have been the more merciful move - but why can't we get a Disney version of an African story, with African characters?)

Or hey - take a leaf from Lilo & Stitch and do a completely original story with characters of color. That works, too.

On another note, please excuse me while I tear apart the statement that there are "plenty of ethnic disney ladies." 1) Nice going, lumping all non-white Princesses into a vague "ethnic" category, because White = Default and everything else is "ethnic." 2) Because Middle Eastern girls, East Asian girls, Native American girls, and black girls get one token Princess each*, that's supposed to be good enough? Sure, there are eight white Princesses, who dominate 90% of the marketing juggernaut that is the Disney Princess Brand - but we throw Tiana into a group picture once in a while, so stop complaining! (And when was the last time you saw Mulan or Pocahontas in Disney Princess merch outside of a Disney Store? Probably when their movies came out, and never since.)

*You will note I left out Esmeralda, who is a) not a Princess, and b) not actually ethnic Roma - in the original story, she's a French child kidnapped and raised by "the gypsies," because much as I love Victor Hugo, he had some serious issues when it came to the Roma.

I remember being a little girl who was so excited when Beauty & the Beast hit theaters, because here was a Disney heroine with brown hair, and brown eyes, who loved books! A heroine like me! To think that it took Disney almost 20 more years to bring that same excitement to African-American girls is shameful. And, if the views expressed in that picture are any indication, it'll probably be at least another 20 years before they might maybe perhaps consider another black protagonist.

In conclusion, acting like Disney is doing A-OK when it comes to representation is - well, to bring it back to dolls, like acting like American Girl is doing A-OK when it comes to representation. Yes, there are awesome characters of color out there in both brands - but the full power of the multi-million-dollar brand marketing is overwhelmingly given to white characters. While I've heard all the marketing statistics that say this is the "safe" (read: profitable) choice, I would hope that two brands with the money and pop-culture clout of Disney and Mattel could bring themselves to do better than "safe."

Rant over.