Mala Bryan is a South Africa-based model who created Malaville Dolls that were created for little girls to play with. The dolls are black and in several shades of brown just as little black girls in the world. There are four dolls, each with her own backstory and all are absolutely lovely. What should be praised can often be criticized and misunderstood. This was the case as one of the dolls was criticized for being too dark by a customer.
Bryan shared the comment on her the @malavilledolls IG page along with another customer’s poignant response:
The customer says, “I think that one doll [Maisha doll] is a bit too dark. That’s like the Sudanese doll. I think its safe to say that’s the least best-selling… Keep the other three and create accessories etc. 🙂 Keep doing what you do sistah.”
Bryan shares the perfect response from another customer but also captions the post with education and clarification:
…I don’t believe that a doll can be too dark…Black in all shades, is indeed beautiful and that’s what Mala Bryan is trying to communicate to the world. Alek Wek, a Sudanese model, is (according to her own words) “as black as the night” and she can be seen on the biggest runways in the world. I don’t think its safe to say that’s the least best selling doll…#celebratehumanity
Brayan captions the post with:
“Sending lots of love to the beautiful dark skinned people out there, especially to those that share the same complexion as our #MaishaDoll just know that you black is beautiful, this comment really touched me today and I just needed to share it on here as well. Hopefully it will help us spread some extra love around… So this comment was made about my #MaishaDoll. I was thinking about just ignoring it but I’m sharing just so that people realize that our super dark people must still be facing a huge problem. This is just sad. Although I got a compliment at the end, the person had the nerve to talk about her being the least selling when she actually my second best selling. Ugh!”
An ugly assumption was made and corrected but the problem persists that darker is not beautiful. We appreciate this doll line and all doll creators that know beauty is more than one shade.
