Nigeria : In Nigeria, Queens of Africa steal a march on Barbie

[Clyde C Coger Jr]

In the Spirit of Sankofa,




In Nigeria, Queens of Africa steal a march on Barbie

By Angela Ukomadu and Tim Cocks
LAGOS (Reuters) - With a booming economy in Nigeria and more black children than anywhere else in the world, Taofick Okoya was dismayed some years ago when he couldn't find a black doll for his niece.
The 43-year-old spotted a gap in the market and with little competition from foreign firms such as Mattel Inc, the maker of Barbie, he set up his own business. He outsourced manufacturing of doll parts to low-cost China, assembled them onshore and added a twist - traditional Nigerian costumes.

Taofick Okoya

suggested reading:
http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/in-nigeria--queens-of-africa-steal-a-march-on-barbie-172112077.html

 

[Blackbird]

I say good for this brother. The only critique I can tell from the picture is the stringy black hair like traditional Western dolls unless those are not "Queens of Africa" and "Naija Princess" dolls. Being married into an African family, I noticed the frequency of the use of long silky and straight weaves. I think it is even more prevalent among continental African people than AAs. Of course, society tastes in Africa now might predispose the young girls to favor less than ethnic hairstyles and thus traditional hairstyles may not appeal to them. My wife has locks but her mom and 2 sisters are never seen without long weaves in European fashion unless they are wearing braided weaves. Same goes for many African women I have come in contact with.

 

[Clyde C Coger Jr]

I say good for this brother. The only critique I can tell from the picture is the stringy black hair like traditional Western dolls unless those are not "Queens of Africa" and "Naija Princess" dolls. Being married into an African family, I noticed the frequency of the use of long silky and straight weaves. I think it is even more prevalent among continental African people than AAs. Of course, society tastes in Africa now might predispose the young girls to favor less than ethnic hairstyles and thus traditional hairstyles may not appeal to them. My wife has locks but her mom and 2 sisters are never seen without long weaves in European fashion unless they are wearing braided weaves. Same goes for many African women I have come in contact with.

Yes Sir bro. Blackbird, my thoughts exactly upon viewing the images, smh ... the Western influence


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[nilevalley]

I say good for this brother. The only critique I can tell from the picture is the stringy black hair like traditional Western dolls unless those are not "Queens of Africa" and "Naija Princess" dolls. Being married into an African family, I noticed the frequency of the use of long silky and straight weaves. I think it is even more prevalent among continental African people than AAs. Of course, society tastes in Africa now might predispose the young girls to favor less than ethnic hairstyles and thus traditional hairstyles may not appeal to them. My wife has locks but her mom and 2 sisters are never seen without long weaves in European fashion unless they are wearing braided weaves. Same goes for many African women I have come in contact with.

I think African ladies are so beautiful. They really have no need to wear long European weave. if weave is more prevalent in Africa than among African American that's pretty bad. I live in an all black city if they could gather all
the old weave swept out of beauty salons at the end of day you would be looking at a mountain of hair.
When weave styles stepped out on stage in the early 90's, I said to myself "it is a fad". Well it's still here and it looks
as though it's not going anywhere soon. Too bad.