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| Toymaker Mattel says the skateboarder Barbie, upper right, was supposed to be Asian. |
OPINION
If you're going to use racial diversity as a selling point for your product, you better well not forget Asians. That's what chagrined toymaker Mattel found out with its five-doll collection of Olympic Barbies.
After recently relaunching the promotion of Olympic Barbie dolls first introduced earlier this year, the company received a social media backlash criticizing the company for not including a Barbie who appeared to be Asian.
Critics point to the achievements of Asian American Olympians this year, including American gymnast Hmong Suni Lee, who was the first Asian American to win gold in the all-around gymnastics, and the Filipino American fencer Lee Kiefer, who was the first Asian American woman to win a gold medal in overall fencing and Michael Norman, who won gold as a member of the 4x400 track relay team.
After recently relaunching the promotion of Olympic Barbie dolls first introduced earlier this year, the company received a social media backlash criticizing the company for not including a Barbie who appeared to be Asian.
The apparent oversight was heightened because the Olympics was being held in Japan and several Asian Americans won gold medals in their events.
“Our intention to represent the Asian community with the Skateboarder doll has failed and we fully welcome and acknowledge the comments,” a spokesperson said in a press release.
Mattel said their skateboard doll was meant to represent the Asian American community, but some Twitter users said they didn’t think the Barbie looked Asian.
Each of the five dolls in the collection reflects the five new sports that have been added to the Olympics: softball, sport climbing, karate, surfing and skateboarding.
“Our intention to represent the Asian community with the Skateboarder doll has failed and we fully welcome and acknowledge the comments,” a spokesperson said in a press release.
Mattel said their skateboard doll was meant to represent the Asian American community, but some Twitter users said they didn’t think the Barbie looked Asian.
Each of the five dolls in the collection reflects the five new sports that have been added to the Olympics: softball, sport climbing, karate, surfing and skateboarding.
Critics point to the achievements of Asian American Olympians this year, including American gymnast Hmong Suni Lee, who was the first Asian American to win gold in the all-around gymnastics, and the Filipino American fencer Lee Kiefer, who was the first Asian American woman to win a gold medal in overall fencing and Michael Norman, who won gold as a member of the 4x400 track relay team.
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Mattel has already created Barbies to honor specific Asian athletes. A doll depicting snowboarder Chloe Kim, who won gold in snowboarding at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, was released right after the Games. And a few weeks before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, Mattel released a doll inspired by tennis player Naomi Osaka.
Even earlier, a Barbie was created in the likeness of skateboarder Sky Brown, a Japanese American who won a Bronze medal for Great Britain.
“In the future, we will work to find more ways to defend all performances and celebrate the incredible achievements of all Olympic athletes, who show us that anything is possible,” said a spokesperson for Mattel.
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| Asian enough? From left: Kee Kiefer, Paige McPherson, Ericka Sullivan and Michael Norman |
OK, the following is my take: I'm avoiding this golden opportunity to jump on the anti-big corporation bandwagon to blast giant toymaker Mattel. Perhaps the skateboarder doll included in the Olympic collection did not look Asian -- enough.
There are Asian American Olympic athletes of mixed race that some would say could pass for Whites or Black. Tai kwon do competitor Paige McPherson, sprinter Michael Norman, swimmer Ericka Sullivan, surfer Carissa Moore and even Kiefer, though they identify Asian American, don't look like your prototypical (East) Asian, the default image of Asians held by the rest of the U.S.
But for some people who prefer racial , the ambiguity provided by people who claim more than one racial heritage is not good enough even though multiracial people are the fastest growing racial and ethnic category, according to the U.S. Census. The multiracial population has grown considerably since 2010. It was measured at 9 million people in 2010 and is now 33.8 million people in 2020, a 276% increase.
Our definition and our perception of who is Asian, or what an Asian "looks" like, needs to take into account the diversity and complexity of our communities to make room for people who might look like Skateboarder Barbie, who, I'm sure, continually get asked: "Where are you from?" and "What are you?"
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