The Forum > Article Comments > Only white girls can be princesses > Comments
Only white girls can be princesses : Comments
By Stephen Hagan, published 29/3/2007Why do children prefer white dolls to black?
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Mind you, I think the entire notion of human 'races' is itself a cultural construct. As indeed are the values attached to 'whiteness' and 'blackness'. For example, while black is the colour associated with death and mourning in Western cultures, in some Eastern cultures white is the colour of death - i.e. the exact opposite, thus demonstrating the culturally arbitrary nature of colour symbolism.
Further, since there's more genetic variation within the so-called races than between them, when many people - including some of the most prolific racial ranters here - talk about 'race', they invariably describe it in 'cultural' terms.
This is, of course, racism - albeit in a fairly benign form. However, the tacit acceptance of this kind of racism creates the cultural space for the emergence and sustenance of more sociopathic racist ideologies.
Which is also why racism needs to be exposed whenever it raises its ugly head, and I'm grateful to Stephen Hagan for contributing another article that provokes thought and comment about some of the ingrained racisms inherent in Australian culture and society.