Episode #20: The Ripple Effect of Racial Bias in The Toy Industry
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This past week has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me, and if you've been seeing the onslaught of racially charged media reports, then you may feel the same. What I didn't want to do for this episode, is to have a generic conversation about the state of America that didn't relate to the listeners of this podcast at all. But I did feel the need to seize the opportunity to address the elephant in the room of my entire toy career...my race.
In today's episode, we're going to tackle the very important conversation of racial bias in the toy industry. I'm going to tell you some of my personal stories, and then I'm going to tell you how you can affect change. It'll seem small at first, but once you listen to this episode you'll understand how those small actions compound into huge, positive effects.
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Black Lives Matter: Click here.
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IN HONOR OF THOSE LOST
May 25, George Floyd was killed in police custody in Minneapolis.
May 29, Tony McDade was fatally shot by a police officer in Tallahassee, Florida.
March 13, Breonna Taylor was killed after being shot multiple times by police in her own home in Louisville, Kentucky.
February 23, Ahmaud Arbery was shot dead by two white men while he was jogging in Brunswick, Georgia.
The list goes on and it’s far too long, visit blacklivesmatter.com to show your support.
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Azhelle 00:00 You're listening to Making It in The Toy Industry, Episode Number 20. Intro/Outro + Jingle 00:07 Welcome to Making It in The Toy Industry, podcast for inventors and entrepreneurs like you. And now your host Azhelle Wade. Azhelle 00:18 Hey there toy people Azhelle Wade here and welcome back to another episode of Making It in The Toy Industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by the toy coach calm. For today's episode, I'm going to be honest with you. It's a tough conversation for me to have. But I felt compelled to have a much needed honest conversation about the responsibilities that we have as creators in this fun, crazy world of toys. The work that we do every day, or the play we engage in every day creates product that if we recognize it or not, it's going to create a lasting impression on young impressionable minds that are actually going to be the leaders in our society in the next 1020, even 30 years. Considering everything going on in America right now, I wanted to have a toy focused episode that honored the experiences of black people in America. And that will work in service toward ending racial bias and discrimination. And I hope that's what I've done here today. So I thought it was really important today to have a conversation around the value of embracing diversity in the toy industry and the long lasting effect that that is going to have on children and eventually our society. Now, I just want to tell you from the start, if this conversation about race and discrimination in the toy industry makes you feel uncomfortable, that is okay. I'm a black woman and it makes me feel uncomfortable to but I might even dare to say that, that feeling of being uncomfortable with this conversation, that's a good thing. Because anytime you feel uncomfortable, it's because change is coming. And what we need right now is change. So just, I want to encourage you to just sit in that uncomfortable feeling, you know, let it confuse you let it frustrate you analyze it, and then figure out how to deal with it in a way that can drive positive change. And I hope that this episode can be a part of helping you figure out how to do that. Now, look, I have never talked about the things that I'm going to discuss today publicly. And while it's scary and maybe even a risky thing to do, I realized a few days ago that it needs to be done, and it needs to be done right now. A few days ago, I told a close friend of mine, a white friend about my experiences and thoughts about what's going on right now in the world and race in the toy industry. And her shock and surprise to my stories made me see the importance of having this conversation. She had no idea what I was experiencing. She couldn't believe it. And she felt so sorry. And so empathetic, you know, she learned something new. I learned something. And by using this platform, I just hope to teach a few more people. So here is what today's conversation is going to look like. I'm going to tell you about my personal experiences in the toy industry around color. And then I'm going to tell you how they changed me. We're going to talk about the ripple effect of racial bias in the toy industry, in your packaging and product development. And then, most importantly, I'm going to suggest to you what you might be able to do to affect change in this industry, regardless of what level you're at. If you're a designer to a VP, it doesn't matter. There's always something you can do. And we're going to get into that. Now, if you are a listener of this podcast, or you know me personally, you know that I've worked in the toy industry now for 10 years. And if you don't know me personally, but you've looked me up online, you can see that I'm a light skinned black woman. My name is a gel, it's not indicative of my heritage, just my older sisters super creativity at the age of eight. Throughout my career, in the toy industry, I've encountered a number of uncomfortable race situations that I just kind of had to bite my lip on and accept, from uncomfortable comments about my design choices to model selections to my own hair. And this podcast is supposed to be a place to learn about the toy industry and I intend to keep it that way. But an important lesson to learn as a toy designer is the importance and necessity of joyfully accepting a variety of skin tones and hair textures into your workplace and your product design without any bias or prejudice or stereotypes. Now personally, let's talk about what I've experienced. In my career. I've been directly told to change the color of a doll design I'd made from a caramel complexion doll that I thought looked like me with flowing brown hair to a light skinned doll with glowing blond hair and blue eyes, because it would sell more. I've been told to follow a certain ratio of black to white models when planning a photoshoot. I've seen a manager put the black and Hispanic dolls at the bottom of a planet Graham while their counterpart white dolls sat at eye level divided by accessories from the same product line and At the time, the argument was made that black dolls don't sell well. Meanwhile, I'd read sales reports to the contrary. And I know from my own industry experience that anything at eye level sells better than anything on the base deck. Now, I've been one of three minorities and the brainstorm session before where we're talking about a new doll line and had to listen to a senior manager suggest that we didn't need to incorporate a black doll into our launch. And instead, we could have a blonde, a brunette and a redhead. In the industry, I've spent years hearing black dolls, light skinned dolls, and dark skinned dolls referred to as EA. And I remember the day I finally got the nerve to ask what is EA? And they said, ethnically ambiguous as if it was a term that I should have known. And it was always an afterthought. You know, in these conversations, it was always Yeah, we'll do the blonde brunette and They will just throw any a doll in there. And it just had this feeling of, we'll do it. So we don't appear to discriminate, so that we appear to be inclusive. But and now I know that the term might not seem directly or inherently racist, and it may not have been. But it gave a really subtle message, all of these experiences constantly just gave me this really subtle message that in this workplace, they're buying this country, there are two races, there's white, and then there's everybody else. And I've while you listen to these things in your career over and over again, you try to put them aside, you talk about them, and you go home and you try to let them go, but eventually realize that they get to you. I've experienced having some of my most favorite designs changed. I was told to lighten the skin of the darkest doll to the point that it frustrated me because she wasn't dark enough to be representative of the part of the world. I was trying to write Present. I've been told to lighten the tone of the EAA dolls. I was designing who I gave skin tones that much mine, but it still wasn't quite light enough. I've endured coworkers telling me prideful stories of their own mental strength for not fearing black men. And I've heard leaders tell others that they look better without a tan because why would you want to look so dark? Now eventually, I noticed that, over the years, all that not saying anything, all that lip biting had really changed my perspective on myself as a black woman, and on my own people. I'm a light skinned black woman. And while in the real world, my complexion might be good enough to avoid certain stereotypes for years, it was made abundantly clear that it was still not good enough for toys. So here's the thing, when I finally got into a position in this industry, where my voice could be heard, you know, I'm the VP now I can affect change, right? I was completely afraid to make that change. I remember researching models for upcoming photoshoots and initially trying to hold on to this, this really racist ratio that I had been brainwashed into believing was necessary for high sales. I found myself a black woman literally fearing for the success of my toys for my job if I hired one too many of my own black people to model the product that I a black woman created. And that fear that belief was something that I let horribly closed minded phrases people just build up in my mind. And what's worse, they weren't even around anymore. They were still affecting the way I showed up in the toy industry. And finally, something crazy happened. A really close friend of mine, a white friend called me out on my racial bias. And they said, Why are you so afraid to put a black girl on this box? And I immediately without thinking, reacted, and I hear myself say, because it will sell better. And it was at that moment that I said this horrible thing and I said it in front of other people that I realized I completely let discrimination when I had let their mindset change how I viewed and valued myself, my people and even the toys I was creating, like they weren't good enough to sell. If my own people, the same people that made it. Were marketing it. So I told this friend, if you ever hear me say that again, I need you to do So I need you to call me out, I need you to tell me that I'm wrong and that you won't support it. Now I know, I know that the story of what race to put on the front of a package might seem small. But here's the thing. It has a huge ripple effect. When toy companies worry about racial ratios, and they try to balance out one black model with, let's say, three white models, the opportunities for models or other ethnicities minimises over time. That means that there are less and less diverse models available then, because of this idea of this ratio. The models that are available, do find less work, they get less experience and if selected for a project, their lack of experience might work against them, resulting in worse images. And that means that less and less little black children will see themselves on Toy Box. And stalls are action figures because those images won't be selected and won't be used. And that means that less and less little white children get comfortable seeing someone other than themselves and the cycle repeats. So we, as toy people have to break free of this ridiculous fear of melanin. And we have to push other people to break free of fear of angering customers or buyers, by presenting them with an image that they're not used to seeing. In fact, it's us who should be angered by their resistance to inclusivity. Now, there there are so many wonderful doll lines that celebrate ethnicity and diversity. They're the healthy route stalls. There are wonderful books like the book of cultures by worldwide buddies that celebrates kids from cultures across the world and all of these places. products are phenomenal and much needed. But separate does not mean equal. Equal would be deciding on the skin tone of a new doll based on what color is missing from the shelf equal would be choosing models based on skill, not race. What we need to do now is interject a blending of cultures into the standard toys and games that you see every single day. From big box retail brands to mom and pop shop toys. in product development, we should create dolls with every skin tone in mind, instruction manuals need to feature more than just white hands. And in packaging, we should be asking ourselves who's the best model for this product? Not who's the best skin tone for the sale? I know, I know you might be thinking but a gel. I just started my career in toys. I don't want to have a problem. I've got no power. What can I really do look If you're a toy inventor, toy designer, maybe you're just starting out as a junior brand manager, you might feel powerless, but you have no idea the power that you hold in your words and your actions. So let's talk about how you can use that power. If you are creating a children's show or a book, can you just add more characters of color? If you have a main character that's white to stop and ask yourself, do they have to be white? Or are you just falling into the quote unquote, industry norms, and just following these racial biases that were unknowingly just passed down to you. If you're hired as a freelancer? To illustrate an instruction manual for a toy or a game, don't just assume that you have to illustrate white kids in your imagery. make the effort to create inclusive artwork with a variety of skin tones hair color, colors and textures. When you're building a PowerPoint presentation when you're planning a photoshoot, or designing a package, just try make the effort to select a model that is outside of your company's norm. When you're designing a toy or a character for a new brand, just try and pitch a combination of skin colors and hair textures outside of the norm. You can even try and flip that racial ratio and show more dark skinned characters than light skinned ones. Look, all you have to do is try to inject diversity whenever you can. And if you get pushed back, or when you get pushed back on your casting choices on your design choices, just ask your leader why. ask politely but directly why And it's going to do one of two things. One, it's going to expose their prejudice to you and maybe others, which isn't the best or most productive result. But you know what that shows you that that's probably not a place that you might want to work for too long. But more importantly, to it might expose their prejudice to themselves. And it might show them that they don't even believe in what they're telling you to do. I'm telling you asking someone to justify their answer could be enough to make them realize that they don't believe in their answer at all. They might just be repeating what they've been taught by their leaders and so on. I think it's important that everyone in the toy industry at every level, make a serious push to be more representative of what the world really looks like. In the toys we design, the boxes we package them in and the ads that we sell them with It may make some people who grew up their whole lives seeing themselves represented in every toy, every ad every package uncomfortable, but it's clear that keeping people comfortable is having some life threatening consequences. The world is never going to change if we don't get uncomfortable. First. I want to thank you so much for listening to this episode. This topic was extremely important for me to share with you considering everything that's happening in America right now, surrounding black lives being wiped out unnecessarily and seemingly without much care at all. Please share this episode, post it on your Facebook wall, share it out on LinkedIn, tweet it, text it to your friends, however you want to share it. It's needed. I hope you learned something from this episode, and I hope I inspired you to change the way you might approach your future. Toy projects. Until next week, I'll see you later toy people. Intro/Outro + Jingle 18:07 Thanks for listening to Making It in The Toy Industry podcast with Azhelle Wade, head over to thetoycoach.com For more information, tips and advice.
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