Posted on Mar 25, 2023
Representation sold separately: New American Girl dolls overlook Seattle's diversity
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When the toy company American Girl unveiled two new dolls in February, Y2K era Seattle officially became the latest period of American history packaged for sale — with accessories sold separately, of course.
The characters Nicki and Isabel are twin sisters living in Seattle in the year 1999. They have a dial up computer, a mom who works in tech, and an inflatable chair in their shared bedroom that looks like it was ripped straight out of a Delia’s catalog.
For Soundside producer Noel Gasca, these dolls prompted her to think about who gets to represent Seattle — even in doll form — and reexamine her own relationship with her favorite childhood toy.
The characters Nicki and Isabel are twin sisters living in Seattle in the year 1999. They have a dial up computer, a mom who works in tech, and an inflatable chair in their shared bedroom that looks like it was ripped straight out of a Delia’s catalog.
For Soundside producer Noel Gasca, these dolls prompted her to think about who gets to represent Seattle — even in doll form — and reexamine her own relationship with her favorite childhood toy.
Representation sold separately: New American Girl dolls overlook Seattle's diversity
Posted from kuow.org
Seattle
Toys
Diversity
Posted 1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel ...and there were many Barbies...
..."It was my first interaction with a message I would absorb from different types of media for most of my childhood and young adulthood: Our stories and our backgrounds can be included, but only within the confines of a historical box.
I would have done countless chores and saved the money from every birthday card to get an American Girl doll who was just a little more like me, and was just a few decades — and not over a century — away. I think that's why it was so frustrating to see American Girl choose to explore this period of Seattle's history through a lens of whiteness, again, as if people of color didn't exist in the Pacific Northwest until the start of the new millennia.
..."It was my first interaction with a message I would absorb from different types of media for most of my childhood and young adulthood: Our stories and our backgrounds can be included, but only within the confines of a historical box.
I would have done countless chores and saved the money from every birthday card to get an American Girl doll who was just a little more like me, and was just a few decades — and not over a century — away. I think that's why it was so frustrating to see American Girl choose to explore this period of Seattle's history through a lens of whiteness, again, as if people of color didn't exist in the Pacific Northwest until the start of the new millennia.
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