Racist and Hateful? or Much Loved Toy

[imastawka]

Ebay have removed listings, worldwide, in the last couple of days

for Golliwog/Golly citing the 'hateful or discriminatory policy.'

Aunt Jemima dolls (mammy dolls)  have also gone

The weird part is, there was a sub-category in Dolls/Bears for Golliwogs

All things Golliwog have disappeared.

Books including ones by Enid Blyton have gone. 

It's ok to sell them, just don't put golliwog/golly in the title.

I have been informed that I need to be educated on the matter,

and have been given links to things like the Jim Crow Museum

 http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/golliwog/

My own opinion is, I love gollies.    I can see no relevance to them in Australia.

I think they are/were a much loved toy with no underlying racial tones.

A lot of people may be upset by the images, but I think Ebay has just made

them worth a lot more money on other sites.

I'm not looking for an argument, and you won't get one.

I would just like some more opinions.

It started on the Selling Boards

http://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Selling/Item-specific-Listing-Removed-Sick-Of-It/td-p/1834945

I would hope that opinions do not run too hot,  and turn into arguments.

[Anonymous]

Obviously the boards are not representative of the masses.

simply letting the board members know

where these adorable dolls are available 

[nevynreally]

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@thecatspjs wrote:

Given Darrell Leas recent issues and the low scale operations of the other business you quote - it is kind of irrelevant to quote them as they do not really represent businesses that are succesful in consistently being intune to the masses.

Random wiki references won't change that larger manufacturers and retailers have dropped any such product like a tonne of bricks (most long long ago) due to actual consumer preferences and other relevant social opinions and trends.

Obviously the boards are not representative of the masses.

---

So are you like, massive? 

bob and donna should just stop. Both are woeful.

[nevynreally]

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@*julia*2010 wrote:

are you ok?

---

Fine thanks. 

Why can't anyone disagree with a viewpoint without being questioned?

Oh, because they don't belong.

[Anonymous]

elka who ?  

elka australia - its a company, not a person  

[thecatspjs]

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/toowoomba-business-under-fire-racist-dolls/2123609/

Lol Darrell Lea as if you did not have enough problems at the time

[thecatspjs]

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@*julia*2010 wrote:

elka who ?  

elka australia - its a company, not a person  

---

I know that.

Most won't.

FACT - based on common sense and scale of the operation of this business.

[Anonymous]

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@thecatspjs wrote:

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/toowoomba-business-under-fire-racist-dolls/2123609/

Lol Darrell Lea as if you did not have enough problems at the time

---

yes, i had already mentioned that in

my previous post:

a few years ago there were calls for 

darrell lea to pull them off the shelves.

and you also confirmed the wiki copy & paste

was correct.  thank you 

lol

[iapetus_rocks]

Golliwogs and black mammy toys are no doubt, a creation of an earlier age when casual racism was the norm. Both hold up to ridicule the person of colour in the what was then, predominantly white community.

They have no valid place in a society which eschews racism.

But do we have such a society today? This question should make us pause to think about what constitutes racism in its many and varied manifestations.

A black mammy doll which infantilises and trivialises a person of colour is equally as bad as a golliwog toy which had its origins as a depiction of characters ( albeit fictional ones) who were prone to be the bad guys, "the usual suspects".

As sophisticated adults we might recognise that these stereotypes are inappropriate and innaccurate.

For children however, who absorb these images and their associated notions uncritically (as I suppose I did when I was a child) they produce unconsciously a certain mindset and attitude which suggests that there is something inherently superior in being white-skinned and something inherently inferior and bad about being black or brown skinned.

It's not that these images should be banned as such; what's more important is that we as supposedly sophisticated and educated, intelligent adults should recognise these negative stereotypical depictions of people of colour and refuse to buy them in any of their forms.

Money being the major motivator in our society these days; hit them where it hurts and refuse to buy these products.

"Oh but sales would plummet" . . .  yes, that's exactly my point.

[i-need-a-martini]

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@*julia*2010 wrote:

---

@thecatspjs wrote:

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/toowoomba-business-under-fire-racist-dolls/2123609/

Lol Darrell Lea as if you did not have enough problems at the time

---

yes, i had already mentioned that in

my previous post:

a few years ago there were calls for 

darrell lea to pull them off the shelves.

and you also confirmed the wiki copy & paste

was correct.  thank you 

lol

---

You mean:

a few years ago there were calls for ONE ROGUE

darrell lea FRANCHISEE to pull them off the shelves. SHELF.

It was not a Darrell Lea product.

[Anonymous]

It was not a Darrell Lea product.

i know.  i already said that.