Panhia Vang - Go Green Week 3!

Black Friday just passed! And, yay me! I didn't go shopping at all. I spent Thanksgiving in Davis, away from family, and attended the Sacramento Hmong New Year Tabling event all day Thursday and Friday. I think my busy schedule is definitely influencing whether or not I shop.

Cyber monday is coming up quick and I'm a little bit disappointed about this - just a little bit! Haha. I tend to do more online shopping that I do physical shopping. On the bright side, I might be missing some amazing cyber monday deals, but I have realized that I need to start saving money for future med school applications. Overall, I guess I'm doing myself a favor by not going online tomorrow! :)

While walking down the stretch of clothing booths at the Hmong New Year, I saw that many folks were selling little dolls in Hmong clothes - from stuffed animals to doll key chains. Among some black-haired dolls, many are blond and brunette dolls. It makes me wonder why? Especially when the Hmong community looks down on Hmong girls that has non-black hair.

This made me think about Abercombie's policy of hiring a certain "look" and discriminating against those who don't have the specific European fitted look that they need. These past years, I've been noticing that not only do many of these dolls have blonde and brunette hair, but also large beautiful eyes. It's what a White person in Hmong clothes would look like.

Lining the walls of my aunt's house is her collection of dolls that she hand-sewn Hmong clothes for. Unlike many of the dolls I see at the Hmong new year, she specifically chooses the darker skinned dolls (Native American dolls), which she says looks most like a representation of a Hmong girl.

I never really thought I'd give another thought about these dolls, but it's always been so apparent that they're not Hmong dolls. They're European dolls dressed in Hmong clothes. It makes me wonder if these designers and doll creators realize that these dolls are quite controversial when you look at them through an Asian American framework.


References:

yellowworld.org. “Abercrombie and Fitch Settles $40 Million Discrimination Suit.” Reader.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/327/8/e/little_chibi_hmong_girl_dolls_by_magicalpockygirl-d5ly5s6.jpg