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Good afternoon divas!

My life is currently a fiercetrocity. It's reading week at Yale, the week before finals, and I have three papers to write. Are they written? Hell no. This morning for breakfast I had two left over chicken wings from Dominoes and a can of red bull. Wait.... I'm suprised I'm not sick. Yet.

Anyways, as we are thirteen days away from Christmas I wanted to tell you about a few gifts I discovered for the little diva's in your life. I grew up in a house where only Black dolls were allowed. I didn't understand it fully then, but young girls and tweens are still forming their self-image and they use the dolls that they play with to help them understand the concept of "pretty". Therefore it is really imperative that they play with something they can relate to.

First, please don't buy them BRATZ. Yes, it is the "it" toy of the moment, and the little diva might be asking for it, but let's not be mistaken. BRATZ is really not a good symbol of "beauty" fo young girls. Why? Would you want your child to grow up believing that to be "pretty" is to be "sexy" with a face full of make up, a short skirt, and her tummy showing (by age 10). BRATZ is trash... not class.

Consider revisiting an old classic: Barbie. Barbie is still iconographic for beauty, style, and sophistication. Yes, it's debatable whether or not we want our children to play with this modelesque doll. Are we promoting the wrong standards beauty? But I have to say despite the changing trends in girls toys, Mattel really has never lossed it's class. I'm sure we're only a few years away from seeing a Carmen Electra stripper doll (poll not included), but I really don't believe that Mattell will ever stoop to that level. It has maintained the sophistication that prevailed in the era that barbie started, the fifties.

Today Black Barbies are no longer the brown version of the white prototype. There are special collection's devoted to African-American figures with beautifully crafted faces and spectacular wardrobes.

Consider getting a younger girl something they can play with, especially a doll with multiple ensembles. Shown below are , the Top Model Barbie Nicki, the 2007 Holiday Barbieand the Milan Barbie.

For older girls and even some women, consider purchasing a collectible. Even I still collect barbies and the dolls by artists such as Byron Lars and Bob Mackie are truly works of art. Pictured below is the Jazz Diva (the next to be added to my collection), Byron Lars' fly-on-top-of-fly Sugar Barbie, and Bob Mackie's special edition African Goddess. These dolls are more expensive and will cost between $200 and $500.

For more Black Barbies visit Angelic Dreamz.

-with flyness and funk,

IKE