Not Dolls: Slate

Quoted via Slate:

If you walk into a store and see your child for sale—face emblazoned on a T-shirt, name planted on a doll—what's the proper reaction? In my world, there is only one: dismay, followed by protest. Which is why Michelle Obama's response to the blatant packaging of her daughters by the toy company Ty, as brown-skinned dolls named "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia," hit precisely the right maternal note. Even in the carefully chosen words of Michelle's spokeswoman—"We feel it is inappropriate to use young, private citizens for marketing purposes"—you can feel the heat beneath the ice. more