American Girl's History
It is really difficult for me to admit any flaws in the American Girl Dolls because like a lot for other girls, I loved them. Like Kari, I can remember getting the magazines and although I never had a doll, I read all of the books and thought they were amazing. When I looked ahead at the class syllabus and saw that we were touring the American Girl website in class I was confused because at the time, I couldn’t think of anything wrong with them, they were good role models. After reading the articles and thinking more about it, I can see that the American Girls I loved so much are missing something.
Like Kevin said as well, they are a good idea. They aren’t scientifically impossible, un- proportional skanky dolls, they have a message to give and they do so, they just leave out some details. I also don’t think that it’s fair to blame it all on the dolls because they do give kids an overview of American history but because of the media and textbooks, women seem to get lost in the stories of “our history�. It’s true that there aren’t dolls that are described as a “courageous girl fighting for the vote.� Some vital parts of women’s history are left out of not only the dolls but also schools. They do a decent job of having characters from different settings and races but there are still important races and classes that are missing in American Girl’s history.
However, with that in mind I am going to say that in comparison with a lot of other toys on the market, American Girl dolls are not bad. Not only by the way they look but also by what they stand for. They teach some individuality about girls who stand out, who don’t do exactly what other girls their age are doing during that time. They connect young readers personally with someone who is different than them. They don’t outright teach about a lot of women’s history but by reading it, girls are taught what life used to be like for women and it's a stretch but they are able to see how far women have come (although I know a lot of them probably don’t see it like this yet) . I think that if textbooks taught more women’s history, past-fans of the American Girls will be able to remember a personal story from a time where women were not given the same rights as today. I agree that there could be things done to improve the history of these dolls but I also think that it’s fair to say that they provide a much better role model to young girls than others.