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While China may be a globally leading economy, currently, the country is facing massive backlash online. Known for its creative dolls, its most recent release has led the world to condemn its ideologies.Content creators in China have been sharing videos on social media targeting a specific toy in videos that as per experts are promoting dangerous, deep-seated racism. What is this toy and why does it have the world in stitches?
China's Natasha Doll
The product at the centre of the controversy is called the 'Natasha Doll', a squishy, pocket-sized toy shaped like a baby. While the doll arrives in three colours including white, brown and black, the most popular version is the dark-skinned one with exaggerated racial characteristics.It first gained traction on Chinese platforms like RedNote and Douyin before going viral across the globe. CNN reported, citing Chinese media Xinhua, that it all started with a vlogger who jokingly treated the stress-relief toy as if it were his daughter, naming it “Natasha.” The Natasha Doll trend is driven entirely by engagement. Shock value performs well on social media and creators in the country have been doing all they can to get the views.
They have been posting videos with increasingly violent scenarios, beating, stretching boiling and stomping on the toy. However, what began as a squeeze toy trend has quickly transformed into a serious question about just how far the world has come with racial dehumanisation and discrimination, if at all.
Backlash against Natasha Doll
As per Hong Kong Free Press, members of the country's black community described the videos as "absolutely diabolical."
Critics argued that the trend normalises the dehumanisation of coloured bodies by framing abuse as entertainment. “No design is created, marketed, and sold in isolation of thought and purpose. The design, manufacturing, and selling of a Black baby doll to abuse at one’s whim is at the root of the existence of movements like Black Lives Matter,” Monique Franz, a writer and founder of Kinsman Avenue Publishing - a non-profit which advocates for underrepresented voices - told HKFP.What is more concerning is the psychological impact. Dr Elizabeth Dania, a psychiatric nurse practitioner in New York warned that when coloured children repeatedly see images resembling them being beaten and discarded for entertainment, it shapes how they see themselves and how the world sees them.Specifically, in China, there is a larger racial undertone for this. A 2022 BBC investigation found that children in sub-Saharan Africa were reportedly paid to perform scripted degrading videos for Chinese social media audiences.
Thus, observers note a shocking pattern of coloured children being used as props for online entertainment.As of now, China's Consumers Association and the State Administration for Market Regulation have stepped in to remove violent videos, with schools in mainland China banning the doll. However, the product remained available on Taobao after these interventions.
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