We could not fight it anymore. Resistance was futile. We knew our daughter would get exposed to this at some point. That pressure from her friends would prove too great.
I’m talking about the American Girl phenomena.
After lots of hint-dropping and flat-out bold requests, my four year-old daughter received an American Girl from Santa. Before she met with the Man With the Bag, she scoured American Girl catalogs and even took a trip to our nearby store to chose the right doll for her.
She first gravitated towards the historical dolls. Kaya, the brave and outgoing Native American girl who wants to lead her people one day. Addy, the African American girl who endured the Civil War, and Josephina, the New Mexican girl who has just lost her mother; all of them captured my daughter’s heart.
But then she stumbled in to the My American Girl section and was mesmerized. She could find a girl that looks JUST. LIKE. HER? I can’t tell you how many Oh My Goshes I heard at this realization.
She perused the case of identically dressed dolls in a variety of skin tones, eye color, hair styles and shades and settled on one that she thought most resembled her. And then, armed with her product code, she asked Santa for her first American Girl doll.
And boy did Santa deliver.
I wish I could bottle up my daughter’s delight and excitement when she unwrapped her American Girl doll and save it for a rainy day. Watching her gaze sweetly at the face of her “girl” was priceless. Totally worth it.
But about five minutes after my daughter opened up her doll on Christmas morning, she made a discovery. Her doll, the one that was supposed to look as close to her own likeness as possible, was missing something.
There was no birthmark on her cheek. Or, as we refer to it, a beauty mark.
Knowing beforehand that this might be an issue, I called our local American Girl store and asked them if they were able to give girls things like birthmarks, in addition to the countless other “personalizations” they provide like pierced ears, braces or glasses. And I was told no.
So there I sat on Christmas morning with a brown Sharpie, carefully…oh so fucking carefully…putting a brown beauty mark on this tiny cheek of expensive porcelain-like skin.
And when I told friends this story, they were dumbfounded. “Why can’t they put a birthmark on one of their dolls?” I have no idea. I contacted the American Girl website to inquire with the same question and received this in response:
Though we currently offer 40 different combinations of eye color, hair color, and skin tone in our My American Girl® line, we are unable to make any changes to the dolls or provide customization at this time. We apologize for any disappointment this may cause.
Although we are unable to create a doll with your daughter’s unique birthmark, we hope you will be able to select a doll that will bring her many years of enjoyment.
And yes, I’m sure she will enjoy her adorable doll for years.
However, when news spread about an online petition to have American Girl release a Girl of the Year with a disability, I wasn’t surprised.
Because, yes, the opportunity is available to purchase external, and often temporary, items like crutches, wheelchairs and other options for dolls. Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy can buy dolls without hair or have their existing doll’s head replaced with a head that has no hair. Dolls can even get hearing aid implants.
But the chance to make your doll look exactly like you when other issues are at stake just doesn’t exist yet.
For my daughter, that beauty mark is as every bit essential to why she thinks she’s unique as her eyes, hair and skin tone. It won’t wash away with a facecloth. She identifies herself with that beauty mark.
So why not be able to put one on?
As a matter of fact, why not produce girls that some of us in the non-perfect category of the population can relate to? Like Excema Emily, whose skin isn’t as silky smooth all over like the rest of the girls. Or Acne Alison, whose complexion doesn’t look airbrushed. Or Chipped Tooth Cindy, who will be stuck with that crooked smile until she’s old enough for braces and veneers.
I say this somewhat jokingly, but all kidding aside, I would hope that a company that appears to be all-inclusive could step out of its rigid mold for a while, sit in someone else’s mangled shoes, and see what the rest of us see.
That our real life American Girls are gorgeous – disabilities, birthmarks and all.
Do you have a daughter that has an American Girl doll? If so, did she chose one that resembled her or did she go a different route?
I LOVED the American Girl books when I was younger. I would have loved to have a doll!
Stopping by from the SITS tribe! Nice to meet you!
paige recently posted…DIY Tile Coasters
My daughter and I have just started reading the books. She’s a little young, so I wasn’t sure if she was going to like them (chapter books, not a whole lot of pictures), but so far, she’s gone through two books and wanting more! Thanks for stopping in, Paige!
My daughter loves her American Girl dolls. Right now she has 6 plus a bitty baby. She even has had the matching outfits. Very cute, and we did got to the AG store in NYC where she did all the fun stuff of shopping, having lunch, getting her picture taken and her dolls hair done. Lizzy’s first doll was a doll that looked liked her, the others have been from the historical collection or the Girl of the Year. I will say, that they were amazing to her. Lizzy has special needs and I could not get over how wonderful every person who worked there was with her. They made our day extra special and she truly loved it!! I would like to see more variety with the dolls, and I love that you drew in her birthmark. Good mommy!
Kathy Radigan recently posted…Facing Reality
Wow, Kathy, SIX dolls? I’m trying to avoid doing the math here, but holy cow. My daughter already has her eyes on about $1000 worth of merchandise she wants for her birthday, including the matching outfits. Our local store has the cafe, too, so we might check that out one day. Does Lizzy like one type of doll over the other? Historical or My American? I do say, the customer service at the store is pretty great. They realize how special the experience is for each little girl that steps foot in the store.
I had an American Girl doll as a kid before they were so over the top popular. She now sits on a shelf at my moms in the event that I some day have a daughter. I’m glad your daughter is enjoying hers.
Julia recently posted…The Fun One
I think I’m just too old to have been a part of the American Girl experience. In my day, the big thing was Cabbage Patch dolls, and I remember how exciting it was to get one that looked kinda like me. And now, my daughter has inherited them. How sweet that you’re saving yours!
I don’t have a daughter, but I feel very strongly about setting the right role models for girls. I think, for a start, this is a good move by the company. I’m sure they’ll improve their personalisation options as more demands are made for them.
Tarana recently posted…Ten distractions that every Mom needs
I imagine that eventually, they’ll produce dolls that are more representative of the greater population, and in some ways, they are way more diverse and inclusive than other doll companies.
You have to see the Conan comedy skit on American Girl: http://teamcoco.com/video/conan-visits-american-girl It’s so funny!
I have the originals: Samantha, Molly, Kirsten, and Felicity. I loved them. I actually didn’t like that they started to phase out the history dolls, and brought in the Bitty Baby and look like me dolls. I have only boys, so no one to pass them on to.
Alissa Apel recently posted…
OMG, Alissa, that was HILARIOUS!! I was crying in solidarity and recognition. We’ve just finished reading the book that introduces Addy, and we’ve also read Kit and Kaya. Next up? Josephina!
My daughter wants an American Girl doll so badly, but they are so expensive, I really can’t justify it for her. Especially because she wants the one that “looks just like her,” so you can’t buy one of those second hand. Also, she’s 10, so I
m not sure how many more doll-playing years she has in her. I feel kinda bad that this is going to go down as the one thing she was most deprived of as a child, but I guess she’ll just have good writing material later, then….
Rabia @TheLiebers recently posted…{Somewhat} Wordless Wednesday: Do these pictures make my legs look uneven??
My daughter has 2 dolls that she got years ago (she’s 15 now) – both were the My American Girl dolls, but they don’t look like here. She didn’t want them to, but she didn’t want one of the historical dolls. I think it’s great that you drew the birthmark on your daughter’s doll!
Dana recently posted…