Barbie Invades Ellis Island

"Explore your heritage with Barbie." I literally did a double take when I saw this sign at the Ellis Island Museum today. It appeared that Barbie and Ellis Island had joined forces to celebrate 30 years of "Dolls of the World." You're right, Barbie. That's just what I want to do. Explore the Ellis Island National Monument, a tribute to the hopes and struggles of millions of marginalized ethnic and racial minorities, with a doll that once came in both "Plantation Belle (1959-1961)" and "Black Francie (1967-68)" form.

I was incredulous that Ellis Island would stoop to Barbie collaboration, but I swallowed my exasperation and went to take a look. The "Dolls of the World," as expected, could actually be termed "Dolls of Northwestern European Descent" with varied skintones and costumes.  Though they theoretically hailed from around the globe, the dolls had overwhelmingly Caucasian features...alright, maybe Malaysia's face was on the broader side, but Ghana was a darker Paris Hilton and China just looked like she was wearing a ton of eyeliner.

Having worked myself into an indignant frenzy, I decided to look for the good in the exibit.  On the positive side, the dolls, representing 40 different countries, could marginally improve viewers' cultural knowledge.  Each doll was clad in traditional garb and accompanied by a country-specific "fashion fact" and a greeting in her native tongue. Insofar as learning about different cultures improves intercultural understanding, and insofar as learning how to say "hello" and being able to name the traditional shoes of a different culture qualifies as learning about it, perhaps in some abstract sense, Barbie is contributing to global tolerance. 

Who knows. Maybe Barbie is bringing the world together, one pair of klomps at a time.