Lion in Winter

To be sure it's a cuddly toy, but the reason, to me, that it isn't like Elmer the Elephant, is that it copies an ugly racial stereotype used to denigrate black people in Europe and the US for a long time. Had it been any other sort of cudddly toy, then fine, but not that particular image. It just isn't the same as an elephant, or whatever.

I agree that children won't know unless they are taught. I had a golliwog as a child and it certainly didn't turn me into a racist. But now we are adults, and we do evaluate things against a history that a small child simply can't be expected to know. I wouldn't give one to my child, knowing what I now know as an adult. Again, it isn't the colour that is the problem, it's the nasty stereotype.

renth

Man, even though I think gollywogs are wrong, they still make me laugh...

Lion in Winter

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make here. Yes, a golly is a caricature, one that has been used historically in a derogatory way toward black people. Why pick that particular caricature for your cuddly toy?

Lion in Winter

Yeah. It's a great pity they had to use that particular image - it could have been anything really, but no, they had to go down that route. Sigh.

eddie007

Ok.... Golliwogs are kids cuddly toys... As a child I couldnt stand them, they gave me the heebee jeebees.... Does that make me a racist today? I dont like clowns either....

A childs cuddly toy is something that gets tucked up in bed wih them, gives them reassurance, something to cuddle/love... Like teddy bears...

See where I'm going?????????

eddie007

Exactly the kind of reaction one would expect in 2012... You are Watching that out of historical context with perfect hindsight

Lion in Winter

Not really, no.

You could make a cuddly toy out of anything. This particular cuddly toy is made in the form of an ugly racial stereotype that has been used to denigrate black people for a long time. Why go out of our way to copy that for a toy? It makes no sense.

renth

Clownist!

Lion in Winter

And this is bad why?

We learn and advance, do we not? There are many things as a culture that we no longer consider acceptable.

GarryP

The toy came first, then individuals, such as yourself, decided that it was derogatory (together with Enid Blyton casting them as thieves). It's not the doll, the problem lies elsewhere. You deal with the problem, not the ephemera.

Lion in Winter

Attitudes towards non-whites, by whites, changed. I would say that that was a net gain, given what those attitudes used to entail. Those images used to be perfectly acceptable in the context of a highly racist society. Things have changed, so yes, people then decided that the use of images of racial stereotyping is now unacceptable. Time has moved on.

You will not get rid of racism by not creating gollliwogs. Rather, continuing to find them acceptable is more of a symptom of the work yet to be done.

Cheetah7

I wonder if they do midget dolls to represent the midget population or amputee dolls?

If you didnt like amputees, you could be an 'amputeeist'.

eddie007

You can still find those little TROLL dolls... What were they called? Gonks?

Cheetah7

I had a Gonk! I loved my gonk, wonder if they still make them?

eddie007

Yes they do