Dolls.
No one has really picked at the American Girl dolls yet, so I guess I will take a stab at it. My sister had quite a few American girl dolls growing up; she had all the books and clothes to go with them. I remember her reading about the lives of each doll she owned and really enjoying the books. After class on Tuesday, I called my sister right away and asked her if she remembered all the books and the history contained in them.
“Of course” she replied, “I loved those dolls!” I thought to myself, how great! My sister had these dolls that provided her with some history of women in America and really enjoyed them.
I then asked her if she found any hero’s or what she thought about the history of these dolls and the roles females have played in this history.
Her reply was, “No, but I learned how women were supposed to live in colonial times.” This response only confirmed my preconceived notion of these dolls.
Now, I love my sister to death, but she was never one to look a little deeper than the surface. So I asked her again, “Are you sure you didn’t find any part of you that was inspired by these books, any specific person that stood out and was a roll model for you?”
Her answer, “I remember in the Samantha books, the author talked about women trying to get the right to vote.”
I think you all get the point. I am sorry if I am offending anyone by making this post, but I think it really says something about the dolls. It seems like a really good idea, giving young women a fun way to learn about the history of females in American society, which I think the dolls do, but are the company and therefore the target consumers missing the point? Shouldn’t they be equipping young women with a more realistic account of history and its events? Where is the doll that were force fed in prison, or the black-eyed doll, you know, the one who was beat by her husband, or the Angela Davis doll (thanks Rachel)? I know that you are all probably thinking, come on Kevin, these dolls are for kids, and kids love them. I would have to agree with you, but don’t you think that the dolls are glossing over the obstacles women have to face in this country? The dolls trivialize the roles women have played in American History, and they don’t do much to dispel any stereotypes placed on women. These are just some of my random thoughts with a little bit of ranting going on, but to sum it up, I think that the dolls provide a good foundation for women’s history in America; I just think that it needs to go deeper and move away from the “stereotypical woman” of general time periods. Please, if you had a much different experience with the dolls, I would love to hear your comments.
Comments
Your post really got me thinking and helped me write my blog. Thanks!
Posted by: Kari | February 3, 2007 02:56 PM