There are actually maybe sorta-good reasons for prenatal sex selection, apart from crazed first-world selfishness and a passing interest in eugenics. There are, in fact, reasons to avoid having a girl-child as wide-ranging as things like "Miley Cyrus" and "institutionalized sexism" (note to self: are those same thing? Do some research later!) but really the greatest reason is American Girl, the tween-oriented "historical" doll makers (and now movie creators), whose dolls have backstories ranging randomly from the American Revolution to the swingin' 70 (this includes Addy Walker, fugitive slave girl in 1864!). Obviously, American Girl is designed to sneak into girls' minds like a corporate tribble, compelling them to plead for ever-larger, increasingly expensive products. Hence the new "Lanie's Camper," which weighs 43 pounds, requires intense adult assembly, retails for $295 and is only suited for those giant houses in the suburbs which are big enough to contain a playroom and also are too expensive to heat, so that said tween will be playing with the dollhouse-camper whilst clad in sweaters and two pairs of leggings. Someday there'll be a late-00s era historical doll about girls who played with historical dolls.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
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is only suited for those giant houses in the suburbs which are big enough to contain a playroom and also are too expensive to heat
"Be Kind to the Earth"!
Obligatory auto-response to the phrase "American Girl":
I HAD KIRSTEN.
I had Kirsten too!! AND NOW SHE IS DISCONTINUED. :(
I know, they are basically telling me that my whole childhood is discontinued (or "archived," to use their parlance.) Anyway, maybe I deserve it because I had the life-size flannel nightgown to match the one Kirsten wore on those cold nights in northern Minnesota.
There's no shame in the life-size clothing. Best catalog marketing EVER. Also, I've clearly not recovered from the Christmas my sister got Samantha's nightgown and I did not get Kirsten's. Thanks for that oversight, Grandma.
alison: Your sure it was oversight?
're--I thought this place was supposed to make me LESS stupid.
I made my parents take pictures of me and my American Girl Doll posing together in our matching nightgowns.
Those old enough to remember would recall Holly Hobby. American Girl, I suppose, for the early 70's. My mother dressed the three of us up in those outfits, avec bonnets, and had our photos taken.
Thirty five years later, still have no sense, whatsoever, of nostalgia.
Me too! And that's how I got arrested at Toys R Us.
Samantha for me. My mom, cleaning out an old closet, just mentioned that she still had my black velvet cape, but was missing Samantha's matching ensemble. Sad days.
Anyone whose shorts get soaked whenever someone starts stoking the capitalist engine ought to be locked into American Girl Place at 1:00 on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Shouldn't these little feminine future scientists be busy learning how to cook my son his fucking pot pie?
And those Fischer Price BPA filled dishes aren't going to do themselves, are they Chastity?
Working in Midtown Manhattan ... I often see grown men (most with gray hair) carrying bright red shopping bags marked "American Girl Place New York"-- one in each hand. The bags look heavy, and full to the brim with boxed dolls in pink cartons. But the guys are unaccompanied, and there are no children in sight.
(Business-trip sexism)
I also work in Midtown and have paid the store many a visit buying stuff for my niece and goddaughter. The weirder thing is the fact that I've somehow gotten on their mailing list so I get American Doll catalogs in my name. I wouldn't be surprised if a postal worker notified the NYPD already.
My two daughters, 8 and 6, never interested in dolls, requested (and received) these for Christmas. With any luck they'll hold their attention about as long as the turtle, which, thank god, isn't a dog.
By the way, a bit meta there at the end.
My 7-year-old got the blonde, blue-eyed one 2 Christmases ago from her grandmother. Now 'American' (that's her name) generally sits in the closet while the stuffed animals get all the love (and party hats) and Harry Potter is the obsession du jour. So there is hope.
"American!" My friend's kid has dolls named "Other" and "New."
They're adorably literal, aren't they?
Oh no you did NOT just take on American Girls.
1)There were books - real books, with pages! - associated with each doll. Books that taught you history, and doing the right thing, and girl-power, and all sorts of honestly important things.
2)These dolls are one of the few non-sexualized girls' toys on the market. Standing tall and alone against Barbie's madonna-tits, Bratz' bj-ready gigantic mouths, and Miley Cyrus on a stripper pole, are the American Girl dolls, with their bonnets and their nightshifts and petticoats.
3) Are they obscenely expensive? Yes. No doubt. Which meant at 8, you spent the month leading up to your birthday debating the virtues of asking for the Christmas dress or the Summer dress - because you sure as hell weren't getting both. And damn, but you treated those dolls well.
4) I had Felicity. Fuck the haters.
An excellent defense (accept for 4, which uses a word and a type of argument my American Girl book on conflict resolution says you shouldn't use).
And yes, my older one loves, LOVES!, the books.
I can TOTALLY understand a deep-seated (DARE I SAY INDOCTRINATED?) love for American Girl.
Felicity! I am absolutely an indoctrinated Felicity daddy.
Yes on all four! Shame on the haters!
The books are very well written pieces of work, they don't read like commission writing at all.
The Midtown store is a wonderful place to send female relatives of all ages whenever they're visiting New York. You make reservations for a tea party with your dolls there. (Just the right kind and amount of sexism for me, thanks!)
Too expensive? Probably! But that is not one of the checks I write, at my house!
My US nieces have just outgrown three American Girl dolls and, not passed them down, but sent them on an extended visit to their European cousins. With all the furniture, literature and accessories.
I don't know if it's true for other American Girl dolls, but a living history center near Santa Fe makes such a big deal about them being used as research for the Josefina book, they actually give a special tour.
Signed,
A Dad who has bought dolls, books and movies, who also lives in one of those houses, where my wife is always telling me to put on a sweater.
I am not sure about the sweater situation, but my sister is at William & Mary, and I'm pretty sure there's a Felicity tour of colonial Williamsburg.
Note: I have not been on said tour. I am not as brainwashed as you may think, Choire!
Also, our commenter numbers are exactly 1000 apart. Which pleases me.
This is also in reply to cherrispryte: I absolutely went on the Felicity tour of colonial Williamsburg when we did a family trip to the area. I dressed up in my Felicity dress (that my mom made me, we didn't buy them from the store), and obviously brought her around with me. We did this class thing, where we learned how to sew pin cushions, did some kind of dance, and learned to talk about "matters of general interest." I had a blast. Although what's funny, I'm remembering right now, I have no idea where my dad was for that whole day. I think he walked around with us in the general town, but not so much in the Felicity class thing.
I had Felicity too! I saved up money for like a year and bought here entirely on my own at the age of 11. I had one of the money-saving books to help me.
I miss the pre-MATTEL days of American Girls. Back when I got Kirsten because of my Scandinavian heritage and Molly because of my odd obsession with WWII when I was 8(I blame HOMETIME).
I used to go to tea parties and all this other prissy nonsense with these dolls, but the best part was the stories that came along with them. I think it really opened the eyes of a lot of girls to certain historical periods that might not have been accessible. That being said, I can't for the life of me understand whats going on with the brand nowadays and what its real cache is.
Riiight: there was actually an attempt at doing something noble-ish when this brand began, but I'll bet if you cracked one open now it would be stuffed with discontinued Barbies.
It definitely made the historical periods more accessible. People got all upset recently because I guess they made one of the new dolls homeless, and that would upset kids? I had to laugh - remember when Nellie was talking about working in the factory, and one of the little girls got her hair stuck in the machine and ripped out of her head? So much more upsetting. Also got me really pumped about child labor laws. How else chould an 8 year old in the Eighties be pumped about child labor laws?
And I had Samantha. But the books (and the catalogs!) were my favorite part.
I totally agree! I had Kirsten, and in the first book her friend dies from disease while her family is immigrating. What other books for seven year olds talk about the people who died while immigrating?! She was her age, and I remember thinking that could have been me! All of the other books for that age group have old people or dogs dying.
I loved American Girl dolls. The clothes and accessories didn't hurt either.
This is how we confuse the Chinese.
That camper's got nothing on the CHiPs helicopter I got (with foot-tall Ponch and Jon action figures) for Christmas one year. That thing took forever to put together. Also, it was awesome.
STRONG, STRONG ENVY
You have no idea. It might still be in my parents' attic. If I find it on my next trip to their place, it's yours.
OOOOOOOOH GO HOME
I am likely to be there over Presidents Day weekend, and will look for it or any ancillary CHiPs stuff. True fact: the first Halloween I ever dressed up, I went as Ponch. I had aviator sunglasses, a football helment sans facemask, a navy peacoat, and gold plastic badge.
Also, I wrote a letter to Erik Estrada when he was in the hospital after a motorcycle crash that nearly killed him.
Thank God for the anonymity of the Internets.
It's too much to ask for you to have a brother who's single, isn't it.
I'm so sorry, but yeah...only have a sister and she was far more tied up with Strawberry Shortcake and the Annie soundtrack (that fucking, fucking soundtrack, a thousand times a day, every day) back then.
I moved to CA 9 years ago and am still waiting to get pulled over on the highway so I can call someone Ponch.
As a kid, I assumed that you had to have the doll that resembled you, and resented the less attractive brown haired doll in glasses. We were priced out of this market, anyway.
My only, and last, experience with dolls was the hideous cabbage patch boy doll. I would have nothing to do with him after I was running through the house and tripped, my face hitting his face, giving me a bloody nose.
You've just hit upon a nerve that runs deep through my childhood. As a redhead, I was constantly getting the redheaded doll while my sister (blonde, of course) got the better doll. Gem, Mandy, Barbie - all had "uglier" (as my sister kindly pointed out) redheaded sidekicks. You would think that Strawberry Shortcake would've eased the pain, but strangely, it didn't.
My wife is a redhead and has a shelf full of books about, for and directed at, redheads. I think they were supposed to empower her or something.
Tuna, I think redheads are prettier than blondes. (I'm having one of those days where I want to buy the world a Coke and your comment made me sad.)
I had a similar feeling of marginalization, being the younger sister, by getting the "skipper" versions of everything, which were all literally and metaphorically plainer and flatfooted.
Oddly enough, I tried to differentiate myself from my sister (+ a bit of Scully-fandom) by dying my hair red from ages 12-17.
@Jolie: Thanks for the support! It it makes you feel better, my sister suffered the fate of all blondes and now has to spend $200 every six weeks to turn her mousey brown hair blonde again. My hair, however, has aged into a lovely auburn color. Also, I'm taller and thinner. And make more money. Not that anyone is keeping score, though.
I went through a phase of only Strawberry Shortcake. Like every time I got to pick out a doll it was the same one. My mom gave me the raspberry one for Christmas and apparently I made SS give her spankings for being bad.
I had a popsicle last summer that tasted exactly how Strawberry's hair smelled and it felt wrong and weird to eat it.
FWIW, anyone thinking that redheads are ugly or weird or whatever should spend 0.3 seconds looking at the pictures of Christina Hendricks from the Golden Globes. Crikey.
oh, i only just realised why my grandmother kept buying my sister strawberry shortcake shit, and anne of green gables books.on the other hand, i'm the younger, so my sister always got the better versions of barbie, except for that one time she got malibu barbie and i got the infinitely superior twirly curls.
Boys are harder to potty train. This debate is concluded.
That trailer comes with a working chemical toilet just in case you were wondering Abe.
It also comes with a midget in a bathrobe who demands "ya pay him the fuckin rent" on the fifth of every month.
Heh. Yeah. If American Girl was true to its "AMERICAN" part, the above "camper" would be sold under the moniker "Dream Home."
I didn't realize it was a double-wide!
yeah, this is pretty silly. of all the nefarious horsedribble out there for little girls to develop insecurities about, this isn't it. not to be too capitalistic, but...the fact that these doll sale for sale bothers some folk? really?
historically based dolls with interesting backstories that require thinking? you're right, where i'd put that bag of bratz stuff?
If the argument here is against expensive large products that only fit in ginormous suburban houses, there are worse offenders. Fisher Price and Barbie, for example.
I think every house in our neighborhood had a giant blue/orange/yellow FP playhouse in the backyard that looked vaguely like a Jeff Koons project gone awry. And somewhere in China there's probably an entire town devoted entirely to the production of fuschia plastic so that little American girls can have their very own life-size Barbie anything.
Barbies are useful for home-schooled kids with no TV. Teach them what nasty skank looks like.
I'm not so into the idea of having kids in general, but I might birth some girl-children just so I have an excuse to purchase and play with some new American Girl dolls and accessories.
Also, when I was a kid you could already buy modern day American Girl dolls with their own miniature replicas of the historical American Girl dolls. I used to bring my modern day American Girl doll over to a friend's house for slumber parties, and she had Samantha and Felicity and we would mix up their outfits and write our own stories about their adventures together.
i see where this could go. an infinite recession!
My mom and I went to the American Girl store at the Mall of America over Christmas break to reminisce about the good old days when my sister and I were obsessed with that stuff. My mom still has all of it, which is great because if I have girl-children I can just give them the old shit instead of buying the new shit, right?
herstory with herstory?
Barbie Glamour Camper >>> Lanie's Camper. My daughter likes to pretend that Barbie and her friends are traveling spies. I used to be a Barbie hater, but that won me over.
Also, we live in a tiny house and I trip over that damn thing every day. [Also: I did not buy it.]
if you were a travelling spy, a pink camper wouldbe the most awesome cover ever.
I missed the boat on American Girls (Strawberry Shortcake was my homegirl), but I truly appreciate them for their part in this great day:
http://renalfailure.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/2006108rr_santorum_concedepj_580.jpg
I had Molly too! I think it's b/c I liked tap dancing and also had a strange obsession with WWII (military family?) Also, somewhere in the American Girl annals are pictures from when I used to model for them. I was Samantha in her pajamas and her fancy winter clothes and Molly in her rain outfit and school girl outfit. Memories.
My six-year-old daughter has two American Girl dolls already: Kit Kittridge (depression-era girl) and Julie Albright (early-70s kid - she looks like one of the Brady Bunch girls).
I also watched the Kit Kittredge movie on TV with said daughter and it was without a doubt one of the worst films ever made. Stanley Tucci should be ashamed of himself for appearing in it. A detailed discussion of that movie's awfulness would be a good topic for the "movies i walked out of" thread from earlier this week.
my six-year-old daughter named one of our cats 'kit kittredge american cat'.
she also calls her 'rainbow metal button raincloud'.
she's pretty awesome.
That is awesome, as are girls at this age. The stuff that goes through their heads (and comes out of their mouths) just staggers me.
yeah. i have two daughters- 8 and 6. there is nothing that could have prepared me for the beauty, sweetness and joy they have brought into my life.
a couple of days ago the six-year-old, who, while being tickled, tends to call me names like 'furry-head' and 'goat-herder', called me 'fishing metaphor'.
we don't know where she got it, and have given up trying to find out.
@brad ... it's a line from the movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" if you're still wondering about this since it's a year & a half after your post. Cute kid.
LOLing at "Be Kind to the Earth" inscribed on the side. Will a plastic tree be planted for every one that's sold?
Some of the books are oddly Gothic. The Irish doll, Nellie, has a drunk uncle who lurks in alleys and tries to ruin her happy new adopted WASP life and put her in a workhouse.
But who doesn't have one of those? It's either dodge the uncle or be the uncle here in the U.S.A.!
Drunkle!
Will the 00's American Girl dolls of the future come with a miniature vintage American Girl doll for her to play with?
Meta as FUCK.
I would've loved getting one of these dolls as a child.
I'm a guy.
American Girl sucks as much as Walmart. When the actors at the company's theaters voted to unionize, the company shut down the theaters rather than accept unionized employees. Doesn't matter what kind of mealymouthed bullshit they pay their hacks to write in their kiddy books. When push comes to shove, they are anti-people.
Fuck 'em.
The bits I have seen of the books are pretty good; maybe they have "mealymouthed" bits too, but you forgot to quote any. What kind of union card the writers had is a really fascinating and important question. You might like to address it with documentation. On the other hand, you might not be bothered to document any cheap-ass claims you make.
@brad [#1678] - fishing metaphor- what a riot. Are you 'quite a catch' -- or (divorced) 'the one who got away'?
American Girl also has a line of non-doll/book character related products (at least they did when I was growing up). One I remember in particular was called "The Care and Keeping of You: the Body Book for Girls" which was (as far as I can remember) a fairly comprehensive guide for girls about their bodies. I distinctly remember cartoon drawings of a girl going through the different stages of breast development. I certainly learned a lot from that book.
So basically, I don't think the AG brand is all bad. I LOVED the books growing up. I almost cried when I figured out I probably wasn't going to read them a 7th time and that I should donate them to my school library. And I adored my Molly doll with all of my heart. And I once dragged my mom to an American Girl Fashion Show (which I suppose is more support for your article...)