Was blissfully ignorant of entire American Girl product line (and marketing message until their horrible catalogue arrived in my mailbox today.
"American Girl is a premiere lifestyle brand that offers a variety of age-appropriate, high-quality dolls, books, clothing, and accessories." Ughhhh... I don't even know where to begin... Premier? Compared to what? Whose life? Whose style?
This season you can get American Girl dolls "styled" to look "just like you," so long as you don't have, say, green eyes, "medium" skin, and brown "textured" hair, or you can order "historical" dolls from the 1780s to the 1940s, along with books about them in which don't do much except pose in their cute skirts and have little fights with their girlfriends, who are also available for ordering.
Where is the Rosa Parks American Girl doll? The Rachel Carson American Girl doll? Jackie Mitchell? Barbara McClintock? Betty Friedan? Margaret Sanger? Gayle Rubin? Or... Oh! I know: the Valerie Solanas American Girl doll...
What kills me is, all the signals in the brochure are telling me that I'm supposed to believe this saccharine American Girl stuff is somehow good for my daughter. How dumb do these people think I am?
