Er...

The 'modern' mom looks like she stole the jacket from Dr. Brown in Back to the Future 2.

How do the two redhead "modern" parents make a blonde girl and brunette boy? "Modern" must be a euphemism for something else.

that's... wow. I'll wait for someone more articulate to explain it, but just...wow. How did they think that would work?

Modern Doll Mom to Doll Family Dad: "Oh look, there's an Ethnic Family moving into the old Asian Family place."
Doll Family Dad: "There goes the neighborhood"

Sounds like normal naming conventions for Americans. You have your blacks, your Asian-Americans, your Hispanics, and simply "Americans" (which are usually just white people).

I suspect that the majority is going to agree that the execution of this idea is colossally flawed.

So: Is there any way of providing children with dolls that reflect their family or friends, without invoking all kinds of stereotypes?

So... what is the plan?

So "ethnic" is the new "black"?

Once again, Plastic unless otherwise stated. Where's the "Alternative Family", with two daddies, one of whom is pregnant?

Did anyone else have Firefox launch Quicktime to view the larger photo?

I'm thinking that they should sell all of the dolls "a-la-carte." That way, you can pick your own family. Unlike real life.

To be fair, they appear to be a Thai company (at least, there's Thai lettering on the sign on their "Who We Are" page), and the website does not give the impression that they are native English speakers — "PlanToys is meticulous from selecting material to manufacturing process and also has special projects to encourage the building of a supportive environment and social contribution."

Antinous (#10) Yes. Somewhere along the line Quicktime decided to handle tiff files for me. I guess Firefox can't be bothered with it.

wait - Thai is "ethnic" not "Asian"?

How do the two redhead "modern" parents make a blonde girl and brunette boy? "Modern" must be a euphemism for something else.

I guess "modern family" is dad, mom and kids from previous marriage(s).

How do the two redhead "modern" parents make a blonde girl and brunette boy? "Modern" must be a euphemism for something else.

The "modern" parents have access to modern hair dye . . . and complex genetic engineering techniques that allow them to choose the hair and eye colors for their kids.

Out of the three, the "ethnic" family looks the be the snappiest dressers.

Folks, you can't have it both ways. Stores are pressured to have toys that reflect "reality". I want to see doll sets with two mommys or two daddys or one kid that is different due to adoption, indescretion, or whatever. As long as the intent is positive, this is way cool. I'm in my 40s and I still think it is unusual to see an ethnic doll. That is just wrong (or maybe I don't spend enough time with dolls). :)

#7: What stereotypes? Ethnic dolls will have tasteful ethnic characteristics. A stereotype would be the "white American" dolls to be fat with guns and a trash can full of food. (My buddy in the UK loves that one.) If you need more examples of how not to be tasteful, check out a WWI Popeye or Bugs Bunny cartoon and see if you can spot the Japanese and Germans.

#10: LOL. I'm in Oregon and wake up screaming every night over that one.

@ #3 posted by CRANGUY
Thank you... I laughed out loud - I certainly didn't go to the more logical place #15 JAUTERO went to.

Someone mentioned that they're made by a Thai company, maybe they didn't reseach american demographics well enough!

ethnic? so white people aren't ethnic? they have no ethnicity? ha!

its not distasteful, just flawed.

Pnutts, the issue is the names-- the default Doll Family is white, thus showing that without modifiers, all people are white. "Ethnic" describes... nothing, really, unless you consider 'white' to be not an ethnicity. It's like 'exotic'-- oh, Costa Rica is such an exotic place! Except for the people who live there, who see it as just as non-exotic as I see Iowa.

A few years back I took a Geomorphology course taught by a guy from Trinidad. This girl described the color of a rock as "skin color" on her test, he marked it with a smiley face that said "politically correct?" and laughed it off. Sadly, she didn't understand what he was getting at.

The concept is nothing but a lousy attempt to generate money. There is nothing innovative about this product as it doesnt solve any problems but simply creates discussions about ethnicity; which I presume is the main intention of the product.

I was going to say something about this, but I’ve been distracted by the freaking awesome bunny on the front of the Plan Toys site. Man, that thing is great – white plastic abstract bloboid body and head, wooden beads for the ears and nose, stitched leather ears, and wooden wheel pods.

Oh, wait, the catalog claims that it’s the Sit N Walk Puppy. Bunny, puppy, whatever – it’s just awesome.

For what it's worth, we have a dollhouse full of Plan Toys dolls and furniture that my four year old loves and plays with all the time.

Egregious ethnicity labeling notwithstanding, they are well-made toys, and so much nicer than most of the plastic dollhouse crap out there.

hope its true

Business Policy
Our business administration strictly follows the principles of morality and justice. We take full responsibility in our charges and are fair to those relevant with us including staffs, clients, partners, and stakeholders. All staffs have to abide by our organizational regulations such as punctual delivery, integrity, accountability, coupled with bringing optimal satisfaction to our customers. We have strongly adhered to our business policy and we will maintain its value perpetually.

Don't forget the Plan Toys "Chubbie".
Makes interesting sounds and encourages manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination. (snort)

If your Doll Family lives in a Doll House, does it then follow that you keep your Ethnic Family in an Ethnic house?

Ditto to #12.

But also, they make good stuff. My daughters have the wooden peg people versions of these sets (got recently, but maybe no longer in production 'cause I can't find them on the web site), which have a really simple-but-ingenious angled cut which makes it so you give their legs a half-twist and they're sitting. Hard to describe, but really cool design.

Well, they also have a Native American set:
http://www.plantoys.com/2007/products_detail.php?id=6309

How to play: Children can imagine and tell stories about Red Indians, helping to stimulate their imagination and expanding their horizon.

Red Indians, indeed. Mostly Plains accessories, with a random totem pole.

Casino sold separately.

They are a Thai company. All the photographs on their site are of (presumably) Thai folks, whereas all of their dolls (including those that go with sets--service crew, etc.) match the characteristics of the white/European--i.e. unmarked--"family" dolls. They're likely marketing to a largely European and American customer base and assume that this is what's going to appeal.

But, is it just me, or does this "Asian Family" (different from above) cross a line?
http://www.plantoys.com/2007/catalog.php?id=12&page=2
Maybe it's okay...it says they "prevent egocentrism."

Too bad they don't do anything for ethnocentrism.

does this Asian Family cross a line?

They're way, way over the cute line. I think that they express a fairly classic Asian doll aesthetic, rather than a racist stereotype.

Last time I saw these toys was in a "Waldorf" oriented toy store. Think German Racists and you'll be on the right track.

I'm really not trying to get disemvowelled here, and I know being enthusiastic about boutique education is trendy with the new age jet setters, but that program has a history of being quite a bit pro-white. Perhaps there is a deeper connection than just "This toy company is from Thailand and is ignorant about Americans."

I'm really not trying to get disemvowelled here, and I know being enthusiastic about boutique education is trendy with the new age jet setters

Most BB commenters seem more concerned about Rapturist home-schooling from what I've seen.

To make a family that resembles mine, I'd have to nab Modern Mom, Ethnic Dad (who is Asian, but not 'Plan Doll' Asian) and soak the ethnic kiddies in a little bit of bleach.

I love toystores that have figured out that dollhouse family members need to be selected one by one. I always compliment the store manager when I see a store that has made individual dolls available.

DOLL POWER!

My daughter has their modern doll house which came with the "modern" set. None of the dolls look like us, but hey, who cares. She plays with dinosaurs at the same time. This is for kids, it doesn't have to be perfect or make sense. They are made well from good materials. Though I do agree that this is funny.

I came across these toys when I was looking for a gift to buy for a friend's toddler. I found the doll family names to be odd as well, but just assumed it was inelegant translation. The toys are really well made and have great design. They use organic wood, non formaldehyde glue and soy based ink too. I think I am willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt that they are not trying to program the kids of the world with a Nazi starter kit. Toddlers can't read the box anyway.

Besides, my friend toddler was so enamored with the catalog that he carried it around and every so often would gaze longingly at its contents.

These vehicles are pretty sweet:
http://www.plantoys.com/2007/catalog.php?id=20&page=1

So, you're African American and you bring your kids into the store and they see the labeling. Does it matter that the manufacturers don't have a political agenda? Your kids grow up thinking of themselves as 'other'.

This highlights (what I would argue) the biggest racial issue facing this country: "Whiteness" is seen as the everyday normal American (thanks #6), and anything "Ethnic" is not-normal-white. Sometime in the last 200 years, all these "Ethnic" Europeans from very diverse cultures managed to melt themselves down into one Race/Ethnicity. Some sociologists argue that this dissolving of in-group/out-group designations stemmed from a larger protectionist stance against the influx of freed/enfranchised people of color. White people do often keep track of their heritage, but since one white person can pass for nearly any white ethnicity, the physical differences are minimal enough to avoid any social stigma due to inter-marriage. This is not the case with what society labels Inter-Racial Marriage. Due to a large percentage of white-colored ethnicities marrying each other, a 3rd culture has emerged that is largely post-enlightenment, modern and fiercely individualistic. Culture is never static, but I find that White People do not understand that they even have a culture...to them what they do is simply "normal," or "American" or native to their geographical area. For a very basic look at one sub-set of "White Culture," check out www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. As a white person, I find it hilarious...satire at its best.

My favourite dolls were always the black ones. I had a set of life-size plastic dolls when I was a kid- black toddler and two black babies. And that was in 1986, behind the Iron Curtain. They were the rage- they were COOL. And no one really thought twice about it.
Obviously, we don't have the same history with black people that America does. I saw my first black person when I was...hm, eleven maybe? It was like, whoaaa. So different than me.

So the wording here is stupid- big deal. I agree with #18: As long as the intent is positive, this is way cool. And you know, they probably settled on 'Ethnic' because they were afraid to say 'Black' because despite their obviously limited English they managed to understand that in the West, it can be considered a slur. And there is no universal, proper alternative. So it's like...can't win.

does this Asian Family cross a line?

My friend just got back from a trip to Japan with a phone fob that looks just like that, lines for eyes and yellow skin and everything. It's cute. It's cartoony. It's recognisable as a little Japanese person. Just like the little babooshka I have on my fridge is recognisable as Russian. Which is why they sell well as souvenirs. :P

The entire asian family has got the same hairdo. Maybe they got a discount at their hairdresser?

And another thing:on the plantoys' page for the moderns, it's a "how to play" section. If you're worried about whether yr kids will figure out how to play with the dolls, you're too nevrotic and maybe you shouldn't have kids at all.

I agree that if this company truly wanted to reflect the world we have created for ourselves and our children that the dolls should be sold individually, and unlabled, let children assemble their own doll families.

A local homeschool supply place has great "ethnic" (wide variety) dolls, including a set of adaptive equipment for dolls with disabilities.

I remember being impressed with the variety of dolls you could buy there, but I can't find the ones I'm thinking of on their website.

A simple set of children's dolls and a simple naming convention. Sometimes I think we all read too much into things.

Perhaps the company should have just named the families "Family 1", "Family 2" "Family 3", "Family 4". Then again, I'm sure someone would bring up the issue of which family got the position of "Family 1". Let's be safe and start the set, in this hypothetical case, at "Family 2" forgoing any reference whatsoever to "1". LOL.

I was at toys-r-us 15 years ago with my boss, a choctaw woman who was the director of the planned parenthood clinic where I worked. We were buying gifts for our co-workers' (mainly latino-I am of mixed Pacific Islander descent) children.

We wanted to buy playskool family doll sets but noticed that the white families had two children and a dog, the brown families had three children and no dog! We flew into a rage-what they thought we were non-contracepting sex freaks who ate our dog out of poverty or cultural culinary preference?

So we started re-mixing the packages-
white mommies w/ brown daddies, and the reverse
brown families w/white babies, and the reverse
two mommies and a dog,
two daddies and brown children

this more approximates the neighborhood I live in.
However, I see more of the white mommy and daddy w/ two white children and a dog moving in every day...and as the resultant housing and rent prices go up, all I have to say is, "there goes the neighborhood".

BTW-there toys are well made and fun to play with and that bunny (looked like a bunny to me too!) is way cool and worthy of a design award.

also-when discussing what white people like with my white mom she said that when reading a newspaper reg. the blog site that it did not state what ethnicity one writer was, and that the other was half filipino and she did not know what the other half was.

I had to tell, her like the box for the white family, when race is not stated, white is always the default. Therein lies the problem, if unstated ethnicity defaults to white, then entitlement is inherently reinforced. Ahhhh, capitalism!

Instead of "ethnic" they should have said "brown".

#46 MattyD

I know you were only joking, but you have hit upon the crux of the thing. If they wanted to avoid feet-in-mouth they actually wouldn't have needed to refer to the ethnicity of any of the dolls in their naming convention. A product number would have done for the distributor, and the picture on the box would have done for the consumer, with perhaps a catch-all "World Families" title.

And, just to agree with some of the commenters above, the whole notion of 'white' on one side and 'ethnic' on the other is just laughable. It reminds me of a term that makes me shudder everytime I hear it: "reverse racism". As if white people were of no race, and to make sense of a non-white person being racist toward a white person, we had to flip the whole system on it's head.. um, no.. it's just plain old racism.

#41 JadedDissonance:

..but since one white person can pass for nearly any white ethnicity..

I gotta tell you, (even tho I know you are white and living in mostly homogenous America) this smacks of "all Asians look the same". I just don't buy it. Certainly in Europe if not in America, Spanish, German, French, Swedish people (etc.), absolutely don't all look interchangable. There are, of course, spectrums, so that a particular Spanish person, may get away with looking Italian, but in general the differences in European ethnicity (to a European person, at least) are as different as Asians to an Asian person.

I also think calling non-white people 'ethnic' is particularly American, and not a trait of 'white' people, as you say. Another of white American's problems seems to be assuming 'white people' means American.

When I volunteered at the botanical garden in San Francisco, they ended up changing the name of the Ethnic Garden to something more PC. Basically, the ethnic garden consisted of plants that had uses other than horticultural. I guess that the underlying implication was that ethnic people eat fruits and vegetables and white people eat things from cans. It was odd.

I am primarily Scottish by ancestry. Anyone who doesn't think that white is ethnic should be forced to eat a haggis. Or worse, listen to bagpipe music.

I'm just upset that my future children will be forced to use that unrealistic Victorian house! Where is the downstairs?! Let's not let our children grow up thinking "everyone gets to be in upstairs society".

[...]the blog site that it did not state what ethnicity one writer was, and that the other was half filipino and she did not know what the other half was.

I had to tell, her like the box for the white family, when race is not stated, white is always the default.

Half Filipino, half white?

That's the problem right there, I guess, because it should be half Filipino, half French, Italian, Russian, whatever.

But I'd assume the blog you're talking about defaulted the other half to the nationality of whatever country it's based in. If in America, they meant half Filipino, half American. Not half Filipino, half white, that makes no sense.

#42:

So the wording here is stupid- big deal. I agree with #18: As long as the intent is positive, this is way cool. And you know, they probably settled on 'Ethnic' because they were afraid to say 'Black' because despite their obviously limited English they managed to understand that in the West, it can be considered a slur. And there is no universal, proper alternative. So it's like...can't win.

Where and since when has "black" been considered a slur? As a black person, I know a ton of slurs referring to myself and others like me, but black has never been one to my knowledge.

Secondly, good intentions is a poor excuse. The road to hell and all that.

good intentions is a poor excuse

I suspect that everyone who has made the 'good intentions' argument is white. Feel free to prove me wrong. If somebody tells me that they 'tolerate my lifestyle choice', I don't care how benevolent they think they're being. They still need to get up to speed on how people communicate in 2008.

but I ALWAYS sign all my letters with:

"With moderate tolerance for you, I am

Takuan"

It's always just 'pickles', not 'cucumber pickles'. But when it's daikon...

That 'tolerance' thing really bugs the shit out of me.

It's 'acceptance' or fuck off.

ah,when I watch small children at play, black, white, brown, all the vibrant hues of that miracle of creation known as "humanity", my thoughts always turn to: "they all taste the same with BBQ sauce".

#51 Arkizzle:
I understand what you're saying, and I agree. My points overall were ethnocentrically based on racial/ethnic/nationality issues in America. I have little frame of reference when it comes to racial issues in countries outside of the Americas. With regards to "All white people look alike," I was presenting that idea as a possible explanation (based on in-group/out-group phenomena) for the "melting down" of white culture in America through intermarriage. I think the statement is valid in that context.

The reason why the term "White Person" is assumed to be American is because the concept originated in America. Before America, people divided themselves by nationality, geographical region, religion, family...etc. Moving to America removed the obviousness of geographical location (origins) and divided many families. People still divide and classify themselves using these distinctions. Race did not come into play until later.

I think that Race is actually a myth propagated for various reasons by groups seeking power.

of course it is. "Race"is a joke. In bad taste.

Honestly, what the hell is wrong with you people?

Especially after looking at the Plan Toys site, these are fantastic toys made by a Thai firm that doesn't spend much money on their English translations.

Is "Asian family" / "Ethnic family" cringe-worthy? Oh, hell yes. But this is a Thai firm labeling dolls in English for the American market and getting it wrong. So what? Grow up.

(Fabulous toys with hysterically bad packaging. What the hell more do you want?)

but it's such fun being offended!

Postsyncope,

First, please permit me to congratulate you on surviving your syncopal episode.

Second, please permit me to suggest that, on your first comment on Boing Boing, you not tell the other posters to grow up.

kthxbai

Well, Antinous, thanks for the welcome.

Now that I'm on post #2 -- see post #1.

#47 - You win all the internets.

"All sets are ideal for encouraging children to engage in role-playing and learning about different cultures and backgrounds."

FAIL.

Dear Postie

glad we got through that; now that you're a veteran YOU WON'T MIND THIS KNEE IN THE GROIN!!- ha ha just kidding QUICK STAB HIM FROM BEHIND!

The question is: who, in the North Amercain buying side, told them this information GOT HIS WALLET? GOOD! RUN!!

I contacted the company when I first saw this post and left my "er..." comment. They just got back to me:

Thank you for your email to PlanToys.

We have title all the doll family as “doll family” because we wanted everyone to feel equal and not differentiated.

We would like to thank you very much for bringing this to our notice, customer's ideas and complaints are always our valuable suggestions to improve our organization.

Best regards,

Ms. Bhavana B.
Marketing Executive
Plan Creations Co., Ltd.

So uh. There you have it.

citrus.....people like you are why we have war...........

Wait. You actually did something instead of just snarking about it? That's disorienting. Now the rest of us have to feel stupid and useless. You should get David to update the post with this info.

...bastard!....

Single Ethnic Female Doll seeks Modern Male Doll to share Chalet Doll House (with furniture).

Enjoys long walks on the beach, vegetable garden (item 9844), and listening to Ethnic Music.

For a really timely doll, see the two-faced

HillBilly Dolls.com

featuring your favorite Arkansas couple.

So did anybody else notice that on the website, they're all just "Doll Families" now?

The company seems to have noticed that they screwed up.

Aww.. this why we can't have wonderful things.

Joking aside, good show CitrusFreak, and good show PlanToys.

#60
Jaded..

OK, I agree, in an solely American context it works.

However, I wonder about the notion of "white person" being of American origin. Can you cite a reference for this? I found the following in an online etymology dictionary:

White: The racial sense (adj.) of "of those races (chiefly European or of European extraction) characterized by light complexion" is first recorded 1604. The noun in this sense ("white man, person of a race distinguished by light complexion") is from 1671; whitey in this sense is recorded from 1828.

It doesn't state whether this is American or British English. In the wikipedia entry, there is some definite information about the term originating in the colonies, and with slavery, but the people involved were English (amongst others) rather than anyone who thought of themselves as "American", so while I can see how the term may have originated, I don't see it being used to describe Americans, to the exclusion of the rest of the caucasian population of the world.

I hope this doesn't sound argumentative, I'm genuinely interested in the notion you've raised.

Um, perhaps it's bizarre to be posting this here, like five months later, but...

Plantoys has changed its names. There is now a Casual family and a few styles of City families in the wooden version, and in the cloth version, there is a Modern family and a few Doll families.

http://www.plantoys.com/2007/catalog.php?id=16&page=1
http://www.plantoys.com/2007/catalog.php?id=12&page=2