I usually write about becoming a Mompreneur and all things entrepreneurial, but today I wanted to deviate for just a moment to talk about something else.
I’ve only been living in the States for three years so I’m still being introduced to parts of American life that previously I knew nothing about. Most things I’m LOVING (like tater tots and Arnold Palmer) some things – not so much (like the in’s and out’s of health insurance, and how to get the bath stopper to stay in!)
This weekend I came across something that definitely falls into the latter category – but I can’t exactly put my finger on why.
We spent the morning at The Grove in LA, just having breakfast and window shopping. I’d never been into American Girl before (for some reason I’d assumed that it was a clothes store like Forever 21 or Pottery Barn Kids.) We wandered in to take a look around and I was … well dumbfounded and a bit unnerved.
For you guys that haven’t come across American Girl before it’s all based around a doll (think Barbie but bigger – about a foot tall.) here’s a quick explanation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Girl (I just love Wikipedia don’t you?)
As you walk around the store there are glass cabinets with all the dolls on display. Some cabinets contain maybe 12 dolls, all with slightly different faces and hairstyles. Each doll is $100. Other cabinets contain ‘scenes’ like a doll in full riding gear with a gymkhana horse, or a doll dressed in a warm jacket with a fur-lined hood while sledging with husky dogs.
At the back of the store there’s a ‘doll salon’ – a hairdressers with tiny chairs where you can bring your doll to have her hair styled ‘for a special occasion’ apparently. Upstairs there are sections depicting all the possible events in a growing girls life. There are dolls with braces on their teeth, a doll in a wheelchair, and books about how ‘smart girls’ deal with their parents getting divorced. Further round the corner you walk through the different periods in history. There’s a glass cabinet with a doll called Addy Walker, a black girl escaping from slavery to find her father and brother (Addy doll and box set of books only $123) There are dolls from the Great Depression, dolls from the Second World War, dolls from the ‘60’s and so on and so on. There are also ‘ethnic’ dolls including a Mexican doll and an American Indian doll complete with teepee!
Finally there’s a Cafe where you can have brunch with your family (and doll.) And of course the photo studio where you can capture the special moment, or have your face on the cover of your very own edition of ‘American Girl Magazine’.
It reminded me more of a museum than a toy shop. The dolls were all set up in various scenes with boxes containing the various items to buy discreetly stored under them.
I left feeling very uncomfortable and I can’t exactly work out why. Here are some of the reasons I came up with, but then counter-arguments for each of them …
1. Parents who buy massively expensive gifts like this for their kids do it out of guilt because they are not (and do not particularly want to be) ‘present’ with their kids.
This was my first thought. I’ve thought about it though and now I’m not so sure that it’s true. I know people who earn a LOT of money and who wouldn’t consider these dolls to be excessively expensive at all. These people are also very present parents who don’t work particularly long hours and are heavily involved in their kids lives. I had to ask myself whether I would consider buying our little girl one of these dolls when she gets older, and I think I probably would. I wouldn’t go crazy buying everything in sight, and I would expect her to understand that this was an extremely special doll to be treated with care and respect, but yes, if I had the money then I probably would. Would I be doing it out of guilt? No, I’d be doing it because I could, and because I love treating my little girl.
2. Dolls like this with all their paraphernalia make the girls who receive them spoiled and materialistic, and make less financially fortunate girls jealous and bitter
And you know what – this might indeed be the case, but hasn’t this always been the way? I know that I was INSANELY jealous of a girl who lived down the road from me who had loads more Barbie dolls than me, with all the outfits, and even the Barbie swimming pool! I remember complaining bitterly to my Mom saying “how come she’s got all this stuff and I haven’t??!” My Mom replied that she was paying for me to go to private school and she couldn’t afford that AND millions of Barbie accessories! I might not have appreciated it at the time but I learned a valuable lesson about prioritizing where you spend your money and I don’t think I’m particularly scarred by the experience! ;)
So does that mean that if you’re given American Girl dolls you’re automatically materialist and spoiled? Not necessarily – I think it’s about how it’s handled. I plan to make Ellie wait and work for the toys she really wants. I don’t think it’ll be unreasonable for her to decide where and how she spends her hard earned allowance, isn’t that how it works when you grow up after all? And if it turns out that she wants to spend it on American Girl products then so be it!
3. Living through a doll like this robs a child of their ability to use their imagination and experience life for themselves.
This one really got to me. Why do they need a doll anyway? Can’t they read a book about a slave girl, or a Native American, or a 60’s hippy-chick and pretend to be the girl THEMSELVES? Some of my happiest memories as a young child where living imaginary lives, and I didn’t need a doll to act it all out for me.
On the other hand girls play with dolls – they always have, and they probably always will. Children role play, it’s how they learn about the world around them, they’ll do it equally with an old rag doll or a massively expensive collectors item. Do they NEED an American Girl doll? No. Will it destroy their ability to use their imagination? I doubt it. And I once again make reference to my obsession with all things Barbie. Aren’t I a bit of a hypocrite to say that the little girls of today don’t need dolls when I loved them myself at this age?
So what’s my conclusion? I’m still not the biggest fan of American Girl, but having thought it through I don’t think I’m in a position to criticize.
What are your thoughts on the subject? Comment below to let us know ….
If this post made you think then you may also like my post Mom’s – are you unconsciously programming your kids? Check out my cautionary tale! …
Photos courtesy of American Girl
I have to say that I have no problem with dolls that are offered in an array of colors with references to American history normally swept under the rug of a young child’s consciousness. Yes, they are expensive. But we buy our kids much more expensive crap that they can do without, right? And as for the difference between reading a book and pretending to be someone, from a developmental standpoint, I think the two ways of playing are way different. My son pretends to be Spiderman at times and at other times plays with his Spiderman action figure. He considers the action figure to be his friend, whereas he still dreams of having the adventures of Spiderman himself. One doesn’t cancel out the other. I would sooner see more blue-eyed, blonde-haired little girls pushing around a Native American doll in their strollers than another stereotypical plastic cream-colored baby doll. Because girls AND boys play with dolls. That’s just a fact of child’s play. One of the things I enjoy about living in New York City is that kids from all backgrounds and all colors of the rainbow get to live and play together. To them having a friend from another background is not that odd. For a little person growing up in the suburbs somewhere (like me, for example), it is very rare to encounter true history is school books, or diversity in the community. If a doll can communicate those long-ignored aspects of this country’s history to our kids, I really don’t see the problem.
No, I will not buy my daughter the American Doll.
Growing up in another country I did not bond with my mother over consumerism and that is one of the many things I appreciate about my childhood. We did things together, lots of things (traveling, camping, gardening), but never went shopping as the American Doll brad builds it up to be with their excessively packed stores.
We did have German-made high quality dolls and my mom and grandma made special clothes for them, but I do not think that their price was comparable to the $100 AD is asking for their dolls today. Especially since they are of rather poor quality for the price and all made in China.
There are many other dolls that are of similar quality and can be taken to the library where I will be able to spend time with my daughter studying unadulterated history. Another thing; the history presented by these dolls is very watered down and any history teacher will raise serious objections as to its presentation.
I’ll pass.