Not little girls, apparently. The doll company American Girl -- started by a history teacher, bought up by toy giant Mattel, looks to be undergoing a slow, SWPL-friendly makeover.
While the original article comes at this from the left, bemoaning the dolls aren't radical any more and ends by musing that what the girls of this world really need is an Occupy Wall Street doll* and the original doll line tends to look at history through a very contemporary filter, it is at least, dammit, to some degree historical, with time-period appropriate clothing and fact-based information, not some horribly bland point on the curve of stereotyping that runs from Honey Boo Boo to Marilyn Monroe and ends with kids that have a head fulla inoffensive, ahistoric, vanilla mush.
Come to that, I'druther see 'em tryin' to Occupy Wall Street, too. At least they'd stand for something, even if it was addled. Kid gets interested in a little history, even slanted, they'll likely read further and start to build up a more accurate picture; but they've got to know it's there to be found, first.
(Many of the remaining historical dolls are PC-ethnic, which you'd think would make The Atlantic happy as clams. Dropped dolls include ones from the Revolutionary War and Westward Expansion --They've got a Bobbi and Tam set, too, or close enough.)
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* Great, give children one more excuse for not taking a bath? #WRONG.
The nice thing about the Tam and Bobbie paper dolls, any clothing malfunctinos can easily be fixed with duct tape, no sewing necessary!.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the American Girls, my daughter had them, my grandaughters got a play tool set and work bench instead.
"malfunctions." I should not type before coffee.
ReplyDeleteOh my God. That paper doll set is frightening.
ReplyDeleteHave you found the hidden camera yet?
I can see where Bobbi (on the right) might hide her toolkit, but where could Tam hide the armory?
ReplyDeleteI'm still laughing at the idea of Tam in that dress.
ReplyDelete+1 on Don's comment... :-) And no Tam in a dress just DOES NOT COMPUTE! :-D
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm pretty sure that's matching skirt and blouse, so IWB is a definite possibility. And I have seen Tam in a dress; it happens. Very rarely. There even used to be a photo on the web.
ReplyDeleteYou two wear dresses around the house? The mind boggles! ;)
ReplyDeleteI like "malfunctino"; it sounds a little bit less severe than the usual malf.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am not laughing at the idea of either of them in a dress, inasmuch as they're both comfortably above any reasonable standard for presentability.
Jeffro, it should be noted that most of mine are long skirts, made of denim and have pockets and belt loops. I like the functionality of jeans.
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