Barbie in the land of Chairman Mao

Will blond hair and plastic breasts play in China? Mattel is betting on it.

By Emily Rauhala - Special to GlobalPost
Published: March 3, 2009 10:47 ET
Updated: March 14, 2009 10:15 ET
Page 2 of 2

 

But that doesn't mean Barbie's looks aren't part of the equation.

Meina Wang lists Barbie’s light skin and round eyes as her most desirable attributes. The Barbie Shanghai website features few Chinese faces. And at the new store, ‘Shanghai Barbie’ and ‘Shanghai Ling,’ two dolls will with “Chinese touches,” will account for 10 percent of the stock.

“Our research shows that Chinese women want a blond doll, that they expect a blond doll because Barbie is American,” said Lai, the general manager.

Whether the preference for light-skinned dolls stems from a fascination with American pop culture, or from a long-standing liking for light skin, (hence the popularity of skin whitening creams in China) is up for debate.

What is clear, says M.G. Lord, author of "Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll", is that Mattel runs into trouble when it deviates from the classic Barbie script. Dolls whose bodies, skin and hair look more realistic are not as popular. And no matter how many multi-hued sidekicks they design, the original Barbie wins out.

The point, Lord says, is not just that Barbie doesn’t look like Chinese women, but that she doesn’t look like any woman — and never has.

Barbie is a caricature, the stuff of storybooks. And she’ll tell whatever tale a Shanghai princess wants to hear.

Other recent GlobalPost dispatches from China:

Messing with their heads

Bad economy, better lungs?

Take my daughter, please

For more on the global economic crisis:Click here for the full report

Editor's note: This story was updated to correct the price of a Barbie doll in Shanghai. It is 60 yuan, not $60.

Comments:

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Posted by emil300 on November 6, 2009 14:30 ET

I think Barbie's penetration into the Chinese market is not a very good thing. To have little Chinese girls, and their mom's too I suppose, buying into everything that Barbie represents is not encouraging.

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