Barbie Price Depends On Profession, Black Doll Version The Cheapest

A Barbie doll’s price apparently depends on the profession. Barbie has been many things but apparently finding a black Barbie is rare for some parents.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Barbie went without makeup in a viral video that attempted to make Barbie more realistic. The price of Barbie apparently is not too high for Barbie man Stanley Colorite, who has a Barbie doll collection worth $80,000, filling four bedrooms inside his home with the growing collection.

Barbie was first introduced in 1959 and has held more than 130 careers ranging from an Army Ranger to a Presidential candidate. Snowboarder Barbie and computer hardware engineer Barbie both cost about $30, with is about double the price of nurse Barbie.

Lee Stone, the author of The Good, the Bad and the Barbie, says the Barbie price can be related to what parents want to teach their children about their potential future careers:

“The theory that parents hoping to inspire daughters to reach beyond the more stereotypical career choices of teacher or baker (although just as valuable) might be willing to shell out more money for ‘computer engineer’ or ‘architect’ Barbie might have real-world merits.”

If Mattel is trying to say anything by their Barbie pricing then you might wonder what they’re saying with black Barbie. The first black Barbie came out in 1968 but was reintroduced in 2009 along with Barbie representatives for 45 different nationalities. But black Barbie was sold cheaper than white Barbie, selling for about half the cost. There’s even a version of black Barbie which some say looks slutty, with a low cut shirt that shows off portions of the breasts.

To make matters worse, some parents could not find any black Barbie dolls at stores. Mattel customer service claims some customers “declined to buy the [black Barbie] products because they found them racially discriminatory.” This caused mother Karen Greene Braithwaite to petition Mattel to make sure black Barbie is available in stores so her 5-year-old daughter could have a Barbie birthday party with Barbie dolls that looked like her.

What do you think about the Barbie pricing apparently being based upon profession and race?

http://youtu.be/HQEJSPQQaFY