American Girl Dolls: From Pioneers to Progressives

Molly was always my favorite American Girl doll. She was a patriotic American who even dreamed of being “Miss Victory” to show her support for our country’s efforts during World War II. So, consider my surprise when I find that the American Girls of today are fighting for such noble causes as: funding their schools’ art programs, “saving” the eagles and persuading their neighbors to stop using pesticides to protect the organic food movement.

A piece in The Atlantic from April laments the change better than I could,

“With a greater focus on appearance, increasingly mild character development, and innocuous political topics, a former character-building toy has become more like a stylish accessory [...] American Girl once provided a point of entry for girls who have matured into thoughtful, critical, empowered citizens. Now the company's identity feels as smooth, unthreatening and empty as the dolls on their shelves.”

The Atlantic writer gets it right by criticizing the dumbing down of these girls’ struggles, but ruins it by suggesting“perhaps the time has come for a doll who takes her fourth-grade class on a field trip to Occupy Wall Street.” So, that’s when I decided to do a little more investigating myself.


American Girl dolls, produced by Pleasant Company until Mattel took over in 1998, were escapes from reality based on historical foundations. They combined education and fun -- a rare marriage in childhood. Today, based on what kids aren’t learning in school, American Girls can offer them much needed history lessons. Lord knows young girls aren’t clamoring to purchase a Patriot’s History of the United States or any of history buff David McCullough’s heavily researched books, so an American Girl doll and literature collection could be an agreeable substitute.

One peek at the American Girl bookstore today, however, under new direction, demonstrates the liberally progressive direction the company is heading. Here are a few of the books available for purchase, along with their descriptions,
Saige Paints the Sky

Life is changing for Saige. Her grandma is still recovering from the accident, and she misses the time they spent together. She takes comfort in riding Georgia, her grandma's youngest horse. She knows her grandma needs cheering up, so Saige comes up with a plan to restore their special art afternoons. Inspired by her grandma, she organizes a "Day of Beige" at her school to show how boring the world would be without creativity and color. Things are finally starting to get better, and then grandma tells her of plans to sell Georgia. Can Saige find a way to keep the horse she loves—and help save the arts at her school?

Julie and the Eagles

Julie and her best friend, Ivy, find a baby owl in Golden Gate Park—and it needs help. At a wildlife rescue center, Julie meets Shasta and Sierra, two bald eagles that will be caged for life unless money is raised to release them back into the wild. For Earth Day, Julie thinks of a unique way to tell the public of the eagles’ plight. The “Looking Back” section explores the beginning of the environmental movement.

Having a bake sale to save an arts program, or freeing birds from their cages -- can you imagine the hardship?

These modern day “struggles” are even more ridiculous when contrasted with those of the original dolls. Other than Molly’s efforts to keep her family’s spirits up during World War II, consider her fellow American Girl Addy’s inspirational story.

“Along with her mother, Addy is escaping slavery to find her father and brother, who’ve been sold away. Once Addy arrives in Philadelphia, she hopes that her family will be together again soon—and discovers that freedom isn’t always fair.”

Addy was a true victim and experienced a true victory. Can’t say the same for Miss Bake Sale Saige.
The liberal agenda American Girl is now pushing is unfortunate considering the Pleasant Company’s original intent.

“These nine-year-old fictional heroines live during important times in America’s past, providing “girl-sized” views of significant events that helped shape our country, and they bring history alive for millions of children.”

The American Girls’ transformation represents a larger problem in our society -- redefining struggles as anything that deviates from political correctness. Whereas Americans once suffered agonizing hardship such as enduring through two world wars and slavery, a typical struggle today is defined as not giving out free birth control, according to those insisting there’s a “war on women,” or decrying the monopoly of the “one percent.”

That’s not to say there aren’t real struggles today. But, I tend to like the historical aspect of the traditional American Girls. Hopefully the company will continue to sell these true pioneers so real American Girls can understand what it means to overcome adversity.