Trackbacks & Pings

1. Family Living; Hatfield Style » Watch, Listen, Vote on 05 Apr 2007 at 10:16 pm

   […] of of Dawn’s entry, I watched the video, A Girl Like Me, and basically dissolved into a sobbing heap at the keyboard. The whole doll study? […]

2. And speaking of recognition long overdue... « The Anti-Essentialist Conundrum on 06 Apr 2007 at 4:24 am

   […] There’s a kickassed young black woman who needs your vote. Her name is Kiri Davis. […]

3. this woman’s work » Blog Archive » Heads up from Carmen! on 06 Apr 2007 at 8:46 am

   […] She’s got an order for you: Go vote for Kiri Davis’s “A Girl Like Me”! […]

4. links for 2007-04-07 « No Snow Here on 07 Apr 2007 at 1:30 am

   […] Go vote for Kiri Davis’s “A Girl Like Me”! at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop … “One of the finalists is the amazing Kiri Davis, whose short film “A Girl Like Me” does an incredible job of showing just how deeply we are affected by European beauty ideals.” She’s lagging way behind the other filmmakers, so go vote! (tags: film youth WOC) […]

5. Please vote! « Birthmother; Reprise on 11 Apr 2007 at 1:32 pm

   […] Please vote! April 11, 2007 Posted by Jana in Films & TV. trackback Got this from Racialicious: […]

6. CosmoGirl Scholarship Contest Voter Fraud « No Snow Here on 13 Apr 2007 at 9:30 pm

   […] After watching it again for the first time in several months, I thought, damn, she really deserves that CosmoGirl scholarship. Since voting ended yesterday, I went to the site to find out the results and was greeted with this […]

7. the way there » A Girl Like Me is no CosmoGIRL! on 19 Apr 2007 at 11:05 am

   […] Racialicious CosmoGirl.com is currently hosting a film contest. The winner will receive a $10,000 […]

8. $3.60 · Kiri Davis’ “A Girl Like Me” on 09 Jul 2007 at 8:07 pm

   […] van Kerckhove at Racialicious just posted that Kiri Davis is up for a CosmoGirl.com film […]

Comments

1. KEYSHA wrote:

   i voted

   Posted 05 Apr 2007 at 4:29 pm ¶

2. Susan wrote:

   Oh man. I just voted. And then I saw that the other two films (one on choice, one on weight issues) had over 400 votes and this amazing film had like 72. We HAVE to spread the word. But what do you expect from the readers of Cosmo Girl….

   Posted 05 Apr 2007 at 4:47 pm ¶

3. ren. wrote:

   I thought it was a very interesting video, though watching it while surrounded by ads of willowy white models all over the page was a little disheartening… this probably deserves more than Cosmogirl.

   For the child psychologists out there, I do have question that is bugging me. These kids seem a bit too young to have a solid sense of ethnic identity (a conscious realization of being a member of an ethnic group) such that they would rationally reject one for the benefits of the other. People are approaching this video with an idea that ethnic identity is intrinsically understood at birth, at least for me that hasn’t been the case. Not a psychologist so I”m going back to my core psych 101, but I was taught that identity is a continuous process, it isn’t innate, it requires formation and equates to a prolonged realization. I can attest to that, I know some Asian Americans who in their 30’s are going to come to the frightening realization they are Asian. If positive associations with one’s ethnic features comes by way of a mature ethnic identity, why is a 3-4yr old child “expected” to pick the black doll over the white one? Do these kids really intrinsically embody European notions of beauty that subvert natural inclinations toward their own race at a point in their life where identity hasn’t yet begun to form?

   I admit, I’m skeptical of the whole imperialistic European beauty standard, this gets attributed to Asians all the time and for the most part the claims are total nonsense.

   /still voted for her

   Posted 05 Apr 2007 at 4:54 pm ¶

4. Koko wrote:

   I loved the film….So I am gonna vote for it..

   Thanks for the heads up!

   Posted 05 Apr 2007 at 5:10 pm ¶

5. Koko wrote:

   Dang!

   She only got 90 votes out of nearly 1000!

   HELP!

   Posted 05 Apr 2007 at 5:13 pm ¶

6. Dawn wrote:

   I posted it and also emailed around to some lists. So far she’s way behind the other two films and I’d love to see her win!!!! Thanks for the heads up!!!

   Posted 05 Apr 2007 at 5:15 pm ¶

7. lol wrote:

   i voted for the fat white girl instead

   Posted 05 Apr 2007 at 5:16 pm ¶

8. Kesh wrote:

   Hmm, will do! Anybody who reads my silly blog better vote or else!

   Posted 05 Apr 2007 at 5:41 pm ¶

9. kim wrote:

   Ren,

   I would guess the inverse of a prolonged and cemented understanding and self-definition as belonging to an ethnic group would be, in this instance, a preference for the look which is held before a child most often as the desired look/type.

   Furthering that , when the desired look/type is understood to be other (or even, societally speaking, polar opposite) than that which can be said to define one’s own look/type, the intellectual understanding of why one’s own runs second (if that) to the ‘other’ matches up with, and completes, the dissonance felt and experienced at the emotional/psychological level.

   When almost anything attached to this specific ‘other’ is the ‘x’ that finishes the equation of ‘their’+[any damned attribute]= standard/normative/desired/primary/preferred, it would be equally true that the similar equation of ‘my’ + [any damned attribute]=substandard/deviant/outsider/secondary/substituted for…
   ********

   And, as to something you have ringing in my ear with your words…the picking of the ‘other’ in this case, by young children, could truly be affirmation of the amazing job we have all done in raising our children to be open and accepting to/of all…until one asks ‘why not accepting of images close to self?’

   Truly we learn how to ‘Be Black/Be White,’ in all the conversations we are privy to where the voice is lowered when speaking of the other, when the finger is smacked away as the child openly points, when the child is admonished for staring (”don’t even look at them…it’s rude!”), for asking questions of any sort about some fairly obvious differences in physical make-up and, a little up the line, socio/cultural aspects of dress/music style/hair designing/speech patterns/housing patterns/recreational and vacation patterns….

   Oh, hell.

   Posted 05 Apr 2007 at 7:26 pm ¶

10. afrobella wrote:

    Someone e mailed me about this yesterday, and I also put it up on my site. I just voted again today, and hooray — Kiri’s closing the gap! She’s still behind — the rankings are currently 572 and 509 for the other videos, with Kiri at 400 votes. But I really want her to win this scholarship. She’s got a bright future ahead of her for sure.

    Posted 06 Apr 2007 at 8:03 am ¶

11. Mrs. J wrote:

    Putting this on my blog right now!

    Posted 06 Apr 2007 at 1:47 pm ¶

12. KEYSHA wrote:

    After i read posting, i sent an email to Afrobella at AFROBELLA.COM. I also posted on facebook. She is in the lead currently at 840.

    yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    Posted 06 Apr 2007 at 8:29 pm ¶

13. s wrote:

    I voted for her. We’ve ALL heard the other video topics a million times before, but it seems as if only the black community and a handfull of the other races have seen Kiri’s video (you know, the people who already know because we’ve experienced it, which actually and obviously would affect more than just little black kids, but all non-white, non-charished children (by media). I think it can help everybody.

    Posted 07 Apr 2007 at 5:53 pm ¶

14. BronzeTrinity wrote:

    This is a response to Ren: “For the child psychologists out there, I do have question that is bugging me. These kids seem a bit too young to have a solid sense of ethnic identity (a conscious realization of being a member of an ethnic group) such that they would rationally reject one for the benefits of the other. People are approaching this video with an idea that ethnic identity is intrinsically understood at birth, at least for me that hasn’t been the case. Not a psychologist so I”m going back to my core psych 101, but I was taught that identity is a continuous process, it isn’t innate, it requires formation and equates to a prolonged realization. I can attest to that, I know some Asian Americans who in their 30’s are going to come to the frightening realization they are Asian. If positive associations with one’s ethnic features comes by way of a mature ethnic identity, why is a 3-4yr old child “expected” to pick the black doll over the white one? Do these kids really intrinsically embody European notions of beauty that subvert natural inclinations toward their own race at a point in their life where identity hasn’t yet begun to form?”
    Yes, it does take a while for racial identity to form and it is a dynamic process. There are theories of racial identitiy development. I can’t remember the particular names of the stages because different researchers use different names but I’ll try to explain. For African Americans (in general of course), kids begin in the pre-encounter stage where they tend to think White people are superior, then they enter the encounter stage. During the encounter stage they start to notice things, sometimes they notice how they are different, or maybe they are exposed to racism. At this stage they begin to wonder if they are different and if White people are really better. After they may enter the immersion stage where they reject everything from the White culture and immerse themselves in Black books, history, literature, friends, and everything Black. Later on they enter a final kind of awareness phase where they recognize differences between races but they are more accepting and tolerant. By that time they have stopped thinking they are inferior and they might no longer hate White people (which can happen during the immersion phase).
    I wrote a paper about this last year but I just can’t remember the stage names. You can look it up though.

    Posted 08 Apr 2007 at 8:44 am ¶

15. tayari wrote:

    I voted for Kiri Davis and posted it on my blog. She is getting beaten pretty badly over there. Maybe it’s time to talk about the DIGITAL DIVIDE?

    Posted 10 Apr 2007 at 3:20 pm ¶

16. Natalia wrote:

    Kiri Davis went from Last place to first place and cosmo girl stopped the online voting process saying that it was corrupted!

    Thousands of people have been voting for her and Cosmo girl saw that and decided to pick the winner themselves.

    Boycott Cosmogirl!

    Send an email to the the Editor-in-chief of Cosmo, Susan Schulz, please send an e-mail to

    susan@cosmogirl.com

    Posted 13 Apr 2007 at 12:47 pm ¶

17. Dr. DaoMystic9 wrote:

    Black man in the house supporting my Black women.
    The film is a success anyway from all it reached but the cash from an institution so influential on shaping young minds would be well deserved. Go Kiri!

    Posted 13 Apr 2007 at 11:04 pm ¶

18. Kaywil wrote:

    Ren, you’re actually incorrect. Identify formation occurs much earlier than 3-4. It’s at the age of 2 that children can identify differences in race.

    Their ability to hold value to one over the other has to do with external factors such as parenting, schooling, media, etc. If in a country where whiteness is the beauty standard and most doll manufacturers replicate that view, then the child will be able to identify what doll is normal (most frequently produced) and which one is not (less frequently produced). The same would happen if there was a doll in a wheel chair (rare) and a doll who is not (frequent).

    Children who have exposure to “multicultural dolls” inside and outside the home will be less inclined to view the white doll as normal because they’ve seen the various brown dolls before and therefore do not find it odd.

    Posted 14 Apr 2007 at 10:35 pm ¶

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