12/29/2023 0 Comments Black and white shelfThroughout the years, this game of naughty-or-nice hide-and-seek has been condemned for its commercialization of Christmas, its normalization of surveillance culture, and, simply, for its plain old creepiness. Concerned parents and psychologists alike have questioned the product's foundational concept - that a "scout elf" sits on a shelf in a family's home during the holiday season to observe the children's behavior before reporting back to Santa Claus each night, only to return to a new part of the house the next morning. ![]() A landmark study conducted that tested the racial perceptions of young children all the way back in 1950 discovered that a majority of toddlers preferred white dolls - and assigned positive characteristics to them - as compared to Black dolls.Įlf on the Shelf has been subject to its share of criticism since its conception. Yes, even when it comes to children's toys - especially when it comes to children's toys. Elf on the Shelf certainly doesn't need to offer nearly that many matches, but the days of "light" and "dark" should be a slim choice of the past. These days, beauty brands consider 40 skin tones to be the "magic number" to offer consumers. Even before makeup brands like Fenty changed the game on inclusivity in 2017, if a cosmetics company released a line of foundations with just two shades, it'd be a marketing - and sales - disaster. And in this product category in particular, it's trailing too far behind. However, following the long-overdue racial justice movements over the past 18 months, it's painfully clear that Elf on the Shelf's efforts toward equality have barely begun. That's no benchmark for representation.īack in 2018, any progress along these lines felt like monumental progress, hence the immense praise given to the expanded elf lineup. As a white woman with brunette hair, brown eyes, and an olive complexion, if I were in the market for an Elf on the Shelf that looked most like me and my family, I'd buy the "dark-skinned" one. ![]() And to be clear, the dark-skinned dolls are not all that dark - they're not even that brown and certainly not black. When inclusive options were introduced three years ago, only three new additions became available: aside from the previous "light tone" boy with blue eyes, there was also a similarly light-skinned girl with blue eyes and then another boy and girl, each with a "dark tone" and brown eyes.
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