The letter of the day is D and I choose the word Dolls. We see them everyday, our children play with them, they're awesome! My daughter, who is now 7, loves her American Girl doll. She got Molly last year for Christmas and today, we found a second AG doll for her at a resale shop in our little town for only $40. She's not one of the historical dolls, but she IS an American Girl and Pixie loves her. She's already named her Crystal.
I will now be sewing for three instead of just two. And trips to the American Girl Store will be double the fun and probably double the cost. At least at the doll hair salon. But it's not a big deal, Pixie is really good about working to earn money around the house and saving it up to spend at the AG Store, so my wallet doesn't suffer much.
Lately, some dolls have come under fire from the masses. Barbie in particular is always being attacked. People say that she creates unrealistic expectations of body image in young girls. I had Barbie dolls growing up and never once thought to myself "man, I need to have the same shape body as my doll." My daughter has played with Barbies before and has never told me that she wants to look just like Barbie when she grows up. So, where are little girls getting the idea that Barbie has a realistic body shape? I think it comes from what they're exposed to in society and that means its up to us as parents to make sure they know that Barbie isn't real, that her body isn't a goal to reach, that her doll is just something to have fun dressing up and playing pretend with.
I guess the American Girl dolls have a little more realistic proportion to actual body shape. I haven't actually looked into it. All I know is that Pixie loves her AG dolls and I love that she is learning American history through her dolls. She loves reading about WW2 in Molly's books. She's even read books from the other American Girl dolls and has a growing collection of AG books. I'm excited that American Girl is bringing back Samantha, who was my first American Girl doll, back when they were The Pleasant Company. My Samantha doll is packed away in a box currently (I still haven't found her since our move two years ago). I would love to get Pixie her own Samantha doll some day.
For now, she's happy with Molly and Crystal, going on adventures and learning their history. And NOT thinking that her body has to resemble that of a toy. And I'm now off to get Crystal's new bed set up, so she has a place to sleep tonight!
~*~ Freckled Fairy~*~
My daughter loved he AG books when she was growing up! Body image is a crucial thing to help a young girl understand and it sounds like you're doing a great job.
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