(CNN) — Grace, Kara and Trichelle were created to fill a void for young black girls who for so long have been playing with dolls that don’t look like them.
The new black Barbies released by Mattel have fuller lips, curlier hair and other features that the company says more accurately represent African-American women.
Some have cheered the new dolls. Others jeered them, saying they’re not black enough.
“I love the black Barbie. It’s about time,” Jua Simpson said on CNN’s iReport, a user-generated news community. “But the hair is still a step backwards, since most of our hair is not straight and light brown.”
Others disagree with critics who say the dolls should have had more natural black hairstyles, such as afros or braids.
“Many people have criticized the dolls for either having hair that’s too long or too straight, but I have long, straight hair that I straightened. But it’s my hair and a part of me,” said Tanisa Zoe Samuel, an African-American iReporter from the Turks and Caicos, in the Caribbean. “Black women come in all shades, shapes and varieties that there is just no way to capture everyone with three dolls.”
