Did You Know

Move over Barbie and Bratz

Since 1959 Barbie has ruled the world of North American girl toys and dolls.  America’s first teen fashion doll led girls to fantasize about growing up and becoming older teenagers and young adults – with breast and hips and fashion sense; and with Ken’s arrival in 1961, the dating game.

The 2001 introduction of Bratz dolls both challenged the Barbie world while reinforcing the basic focus.  The original four Bratz dolls all have oversized heads, show more exotic and diverse multi-racial facial features, and dress in more hip hop and flashy, current styles. Barbie and company have always been more of a preppie crowd compared to the Bratz‘s street smart mall shoppers.

Yet, both have a common focus and message for their target audience --  young girls. It is a message about an ideal older teen/early twenties female body and fixation with the ever-changing world of clothing fashion.

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Today, in Chicago and 11 other major American cities, with Miami and Houston coming soon, a new challenger has arisen, the My American Girl doll.

At 18 inches, this series of dolls hearken back to the traditional doll given young girls in Europe: an almost life-size version of themselves at ages 3-5, with round and full face, glass eyes that close when lying down,  chubby arms and legs and a straight, if well fed body.

The doll comes in a variety of ethnic and skin colour versions and eye colours. Their hair also comes in a variety of shades and textures (though I could not see a true redhead among the ‘wig’ options). In all there are 44 combinations of skin tone, hair and eye colour according to the company website

They come with various outfits, from matching dresses with hats to riding costumes. They come with optional co-ordinated dogs, bicycles, roller blades, sailboats, braces or wheelchair.

And best of all, you, the young girl who is to receive the doll – at $104.00 plus clothing costs, accessories and taxes – gets to choose which of the above variables you want – either at the store or on-line --SO THAT THE DOLL LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE YOU DO.

Yes, I said exactly!  The goal is to choose a doll head, skin tone and hair that best matches your own!!  To create your ONE and ONLY twin or clone!!!

 

To accomplish this goal, the company goes to great lengths.

To start, all doll costumes also come in the full range of real young girl sizes, as do accessories.  So you and your doll can dress alike.

At the shop in Chicago on the Magnificent Mile, the 2 storey store also had its own:

1.     hair salon – so your doll can get the same hairdo as you

2.     ear-piercing centre – with a very long line up – so your doll can wear earrings just as you

3.      T-shirt embossing shop - so you can create a design or message to have on both you and your doll – like twins.

4.     café – which requires reservations - so you, an adult family member or two – and, of course, your twin doll, can eat together at your own table.  The doll gets served food too.   

And the café’s dress code requires that girls and dolls look identical in dress and hair.

 

 In brief, you and your doll become one; or, at worst, identical twins.

The numerous parents and grandparents and siblings that I saw at the Chicago store had no problem with this cloning, but I do.

Psychologists have long warned parents of twins to dress them differently and give them opportunities to develop their individual and unique qualities, not turn them into cookie cutter 1/2 persons.

The American Girl trend is, at least to me, (aside from the costs) a fixation on the self – a form of narcissism that denies a broader range of fantasy and exploration of life through toy dolls and play.

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To be fair, the company also makes a line of historic girl dolls to highlight key events in U.S. history – slavery, the depression and WW2, for example.  These characters come with books telling their life stories and challenges, and can be educational.

There are also a few infant and toddler dolls available – for doll siblings or the mothering spirit.

The company also publishes numerous books for early readers through tweenies covering subjects that girls need to know about.  As the website states,

             “Our titles have garnered prestigious awards from leading parenting groups, in addition to gracing                                                                         the New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.”

Finally, there is Innerstar University (at www.innerstarU.com) – yes, they use the word university –an online website where your doll can ‘play’ and learn to become successful at different sports – alone or as a team member.  It has a Facebook style interface to connect to other American Girls and promises to help you become more confident and explore your talents.  It ties nicely into the company’s motto or tag line: “follow your inner star.”

So, while its books, historic dolls and Innerstar University aspects sound positive --  a feminist, proactive message for the target audience of girls 8+, yet the basic premise is not.

Yes, the Lolita bodies of Barbie and Bratz are eschewed as is the future the world of dating, etc.,  so girls are left to be ‘young girls’ and ’pre-teens’ in the world of American Girl, but I seriously wonder how healthy is the need to clone oneself as a doll in the long run.

The focus is on “me, me, me”.  The focus is on costly dolls and costly accessories that only the affluent can afford.

Will the girls raised in the American Girl mold grow up healthier and wiser than those nurtured by Barbie and Bratz?

I think not. 

Remember the story of Narcissus** and the danger of fixating on one’s own image: in a pool of water, a mirror or a doll.

 

 

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** Narcissus or Narkissos  in Greek mythology was a hunter...  who was renowned for his beauty. He was exceptionally proud, in that he disdained those who loved him. Nemesis saw this and attracted Narcissus to a pool where he saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus died.   [Wikipedia;  September 13, 2012}