Memories of My Childhood

First I want to begin by saying that I really enjoyed this short story, it was very relatable in many ways. The story made me think of my own childhood and my obsession with Barbie dolls. The ideas that Bell brought to the story made so much sense to me now but as a child I probably never questioned. I recall shopping for toys and noticing that the selection for the black dolls was always very slim or didn't have the same wide variety as the white dolls. I knew I looked more like the black dolls but didn't have a preference over which ones to buy. 

One thing that stuck out to me the most from the story was when the author said that Barbies were everything but real. I don't think this is completely true but it could be that the author is much older than I am. When I was a child they had Barbies that carried babies, came with kitchen sets, they were teachers, had grocery store sets, and jobs. 

When it came to playing with the male Barbies there was only one use for them. I could relate with the author again because I felt like the only purpose for the Ken doll was either marriage or dating. All the male dolls were so similar and I did want variety as the author mentions. I sometimes went as far as borrowing my brother's action figures just for a different look. 

Overall, I never had a preference for a doll of a specific race but I noticed the differences. Playing with Barbies was sort of a fantasy experience for me so I never looked for the differences between the dolls or felt like some were bought less frequently.