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sasha and maliaSo here is the question: do we take the Sasha and Malia Obama dolls as shameless profiteering, or do we take the dolls as part and parcel of wanting to celebrate everyone’s favorite new family?

To be honest, I’m hard-pressed not to see this as pretty shameless. But, at the same time, my perusal of the comments at sites like Huffington Post gets me feeling a little bit suspicious in the other direction. Most of the comments there and elsewhere, are pretty, well, poopy. A little more mean in spirit than snark; a vague hostility whose target is unclear. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

While poking about, sussing out my thoughts, I come across this website, called Dolls Like Me.

I must say, in the context of this site, Sasha and Malia dolls resume being awesome. Now they remind me of all the dolls so many Americans have wanted to exist for so long: black dolls, relevant dolls, gasp– dolls like me!

(Or maybe you.)

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Sasha and Malia dollsSo, what do you get when you put two ridiculously cute girls in the White House?

New role models? A pleasing visual jolt? A new sense of racial pride? Vague feelings of vindication, that black is indeed quite beautiful? 

Sure, you can have all those things. But, most importantly, you can package it all up and have it in a doll!

 

According to this AP story, Ty Inc., maker of Beanie Babies, has released two new dolls: Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia.

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miss france_chloe-mortaudNo, Miss Obama doesn’t refer Michelle Obama (and who would have the nerve to call her such a thing anyway?!). No, “Miss Obama” is what France has dubbed Chloe Mortaud, the first woman of African descent to be named Miss France. So I guess she’s Barack Obama’s sister!?

But, no, the “new” also isn’t about Mortaud being mixed race and bi-cultural, with a white French father and an African American mother. If she’s Obama’s sister, it’s in the good ole fashioned political sense. And that, I think, is a big step for France, which officially adheres to policies that do not  acknowledge racial difference. (Race riots? What riots?) 

But back to Miss France.
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