Dolls, Barbie and Others

Dolls are commonly understood to be small figures that model the human form. Generally used as children's toys, dolls help to explain the educational and cognitive, social, and emotional values of play. As dolls have become more clearly tied to children and play, a wide array of types of dolls has emerged. Many of these dolls spring from the increased merchandising and marketing of the 20th century. However, dolls are often used within adult contexts, as collectible items and objects in religious and spiritual rituals. All of these dolls exist in a multitude of forms, with wood, wax, papier-mâché, porcelain, bisque, china, rubber, celluloid, plastic, and cloth offering options for their production.

Playing with dolls, most commonly believed to be a type of girl's play, indicates healthy psychological development. Whether it involves rocking a baby doll to sleep or dressing up a Barbie, playing with dolls is a means of learning about the world. In an educational sense, this socialization results from being able to transform activities normally associated with work, to reconcile reason and pleasure, to conquer the demands of time, to express desire, and to exercise imagination. Those cognitive abilities are tempered by the social value of play, which attempts to mold children into good citizens by allowing them freedom within limits and by teaching them gender expectations. Through playing with dolls, children learn to be parents (most commonly, girls learn to be mothers), to groom, and to accept changes in relationships. An emotional value of play joins these two [Page 176]forces, offering the ability to develop coping skills, work out problems, and assess and deal with trauma. When combined, these three values of play mean that the act of playing with dolls carries educational, formative, and recreational purposes.

African-American dolls were introduced to the line of Barbie dolls in 1967, which now includes many ethnicities.