No Bueno

[gwendolyngrey]

American Girl, I'm ashamed of you!

I just got the latest catalogue in the mail, and I was appalled at what appears to be an attempt to whitewash the historical girls.  The newest girls, Julie (1974) and Rebecca (1914) had the largest spreads, while Kit, Molly, Kirsten, and Felicity all had a couple pages each.  Josephina and Kaya each had only one page (side by side after all the others), and Addy was nowhere to be found.

I don't what what they were thinking...

Addy was featured in the front page lineup... SO WHY WAS SHE NOT THERE?!  And why put the other two girls of color in as an afterthought?

This is not the same company I loved as a little girl.

(I still haven't forgiven them for eliminating Samantha either...)

Comments

[lyschan.livejournal.com]

Awww! I only get American Girl catalogues seemingly at random every 2 years or so (the last one I got came a few months ago) so I'm not up on all this... but I think it's a shame that they'd "retire" any of the girls (I think I heard they're taking out Kirsten too, and she was my first and favouritest doll). It seems like they're saying, "Well, this segment of history is old news, so let's ignore it and move on to something newer and shinier!" What about the girls who aren't old enough for American Girls yet? How are they going to learn about pioneers and home-made ice cream and Saint Lucia and Victorian valentines?

As for limiting the pages allotted to Kaya and Josephina and Addy, that is just sad. Kaya and Josephina still seem relatively new to the group, so I'd think they would have all sorts of creative ideas for those dolls especially. I don't know what they were thinking either.

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

Oh no, there's definitely not a shelving of the historical dolls. Flipping through the catalogue in order... Rebecca has eight pages, then Julie with four, Molly with two, Kit with four, Kirsten with four, Felicity with four, and then Josefina with one and Kaya with one. No Addy.

Cherish your Kirsten because according to the front inside page, we'll 'soon be saying farewell to Kirsten' too. :(

I think the company started with three dolls: Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly... perhaps Molly will be next on the chopping block.

[bite-the-rose.livejournal.com]

...I take it they apparently haven't listed their doll "Gwen" in the catalog yet... or they pulled her. She was supposed to be the "homeless" doll....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/american-girls-homeless-d_n_302981.html

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

Wow, I had no idea Gwen was supposed to be homeless! She's in the catalog, but only as a friend of "Chrissa" (who's apparently the "girl of the year" or something).

[bite-the-rose.livejournal.com]

they probably changed her from homeless to friend of chrissa because of the controversy. i remember hearing it on the news, and most people seemed upset by it, understandably.

[alleycatpegasus.livejournal.com]

Addy needs more love! She seriously rocks, and has a good story.