GENERATION WHY?: A true American Girl

On the Fourth of July, I like to take a moment to reflect on the meaning of America. I'm not sure what it is, but I think other members of Generation Y have a better idea. My sister is among them. Like many in our generation, she was fortunate enough to own an American Girl doll.

3 comments

GENERATION WHY?: A true American Girl

POSTED: Tuesday, July 5, 2011, 12:00 PM

Filed Under: Critical Mass

Matt Cantor puts Generation Y-ers on blast.

On the Fourth of July, I like to take a moment to reflect on the meaning of America. I’m not sure what it is, but I think other members of Generation Y have a better idea. My sister is among them. Like many in our generation, she was fortunate enough to own an American Girl doll. These are, of course, toys that cost parents $80 each, largely because they came with their own back stories. As far as I could tell, the Girls’ personalities were as follows: Samantha was really privileged and snotty, Kirsten couldn’t seem to leave Sweden behind, Felicity was a Founding Father or something, and Molly had glasses.

My sister wrestled with the decision of which doll to purchase. She was inclined to order Samantha, but she feared that her friends would assume she herself was smug. She ended up with Kirsten — one of the dolls who has since, she says, been “retired.” It makes me feel old to think that these former American Girls are now apparently American Senior Citizens. Another crop of younger, healthier American Girls called “American Girls of Today” grew up to take their place.

Unfortunately, these modern Girls didn’t come with prewritten histories. Instead, there was a blank book in which you could write your own story for your doll. The historical dolls’ stories told how they came to this country, so my sister wrote a detailed piece explaining her own doll’s arrival. It was a shocker. According to the story, Michelle had come to America on a boat with her mother and sister, knowing full well that, as a doll, her fate was to be purchased and torn from her family. She was upset, but shed no tears. Instead, she gave her sister a hug and marched off the boat. After about 20 handwritten pages, I guess my sister got bored, because the story abruptly ends. We’ll never know what Michelle’s life was like on these shores. But we can be sure that she cost a bundle. And that’s what it means to be a true American Girl.

(matt.cantor@citypaper.net)

Posted by Matt Cantor @ 12:00 PM Permalink | 3 comments

3 comments

Comments (3)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:42 PM, 07/05/2011

Dear Matt:

While you're worried about the previous dolls being "retired" and becoming senior citizens, how about giving some thought to something much more critical. I'm still trying to figure out why the "American Girl" dolls of yester-year were all Caucasian? I admit that I've aged a lot since their release and haven't kept up, so I don't know if much has changed in this area with the "younger, healthier American Girls of Today" that you mentioned. All I know is, it's 2011... and, if the "American Girls of Today" are still all Caucasian, I think that speaks to a much more important issue than certain dolls being "retired". NEWSFLASH: All toys are "put out to pasture" after so many years... just ask my 5 year old grandson. He has a huge collection of Thomas & Friends trains and some of them have been "retired" just in the 5 years he's been alive! If you're gonna pontificate about something, make it something worth pontificating about... America is a melting pot of cultures/ethnicities and the "American Girl" or "American Girl of Today" dolls aren't really living up to their name until they begin to reflect EVERY American girl. Just saying...

— rosalynette

1 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:45 PM, 07/05/2011

rosalynette,

When I was a girl, Addy (the African-American doll) and Josefina (the Mexican-American doll) were the only ones my mother would buy me. So, there are dolls of color but there's still questions to be asked about the background stories for those dolls (a runaway slave and a New Mexican rancher,) and how they teach girls about American history.
BTW, these dolls are still wayyyyyyyyyy too expensive.

— CassieO

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 3:06 PM, 07/05/2011

CassieO

I stand corrected and thanks for letting me know. As for the background stories, I would agree with your comment. Now, let me tell you why I thought the dolls were all Caucasian. The dolls actually came along while I was raising my daughter and ads for them were often times included in coupon packets and other mailers I was receiving at the time. If there were African-American, Mexican-American, or other dolls of color, they were never pictured in any of the ads I received, or perhaps they came along later after I was no longer keeping up with them. Thanks, again! :)

— rosalynette

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