Living dolls

Michael Balter 1/25/2009 03:44:00 AM Culture
Where do you stand on the Marvelous Malia and Sweet Sasha controversy? Balter's Blog wants to know.

Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press
Michael Balter

Posted by Michael Balter

I have been a working journalist for more than 40 years, beginning in Los Angeles as an investigative reporter and then in Paris as a travel, food, and science writer. For more than 20 years I have covered anthropology and archaeology writer for Science, Audubon, Scientific American, SAPIENS, and other publications. I have also covered sexual misconduct for The Verge, Scientific American, and others; I write about mental health, especially schizophrenia; and I engage in occasional media criticism. I returned to the USA in October 2017 after 30 years in Paris, and now live in the New York City area, where I currently teach journalism at City College of New York (I previously taught journalism at Boston University and New York University.) For more about me and what I do, copies of my articles, information about my book, and other goodies, please visit MY WEB SITE

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5 Comments

Richard Parker said…
ovendi“It would not be fair to say they are exact replications of these girls,” Ms. Lundeen told The A.P.

No -they're disgusting parodies
January 25, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Anne Gilbert said…
Cripes! I don't stand anywhere on it. The dolls are cute, but. . . .
Frankly, I don't exactly see why anybody would even bother, one way or the other.
Anne G
January 25, 2009 at 4:50 PM
Anonymous said…
Why the controversy? They are adorable. Now, I can understand why the Obama Sock Puppet Monkey caused controversy last summer. But frankly, I don't see why these dolls would spark an uproar. Are they??? If so, why???
January 26, 2009 at 9:49 AM
Anonymous said…
I just read the article you linked to on your Blog and now I understand the controversy. It's not that the dolls are viewed as racist or distasteful. It's that Michelle thinks toy companies shouldn't be making profits off of dolls designed to look like private citizens. Fair enough. But now the Obama girls have become public figures, thanks to the actions of their father, whether they like it or not. I still think their privacy should be respected. But Anne's right: Those are very cute dolls.
January 26, 2009 at 9:53 AM
Michael Balter said…
I tend to agree with the position that the girls are now public figures, at least in terms of representations of them, symbolic, photographic, or otherwise. Where we might want to draw the line would be personal information about them, eg their school grades etc.
January 26, 2009 at 10:02 AM
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