American Girl Retirements: Ruthie, Ivy, Marie-Grace and Cecile...bye-bye!

[unsinkable]

I love Ruthie!

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

WHAT?! They're still relatively new!

[JFSinIL]

Those New Orleans dolls didn't last long!  And if they get rid of buddy dolls like Ruthie, does that mean the main doll is next?

[*Lulu*]

Those New Orleans dolls didn't last long! And if they get rid of buddy dolls like Ruthie, does that mean the main doll is next?

I know! If Kit is about to be on the chopping block it will be very serious business at our house.

[MrsMommy]

My understanding is that they're getting rid of all the friend dolls, period. I don't think that necessarily reflects on the main doll. American Girl is rebranding the historical line as BeForever this fall, and brining back Samantha. I'll be curious to see what other changes come with the new name.

[Ameena]

I will wait & see, but my gut is saying I don't like where the company is headed with the whole BeForever thing.

 

DD had all 4 on her list to buy but it's not going to happen. We may try for Ruthie, since dd already has Kit.

[vonfirmath]

Those New Orleans dolls didn't last long!  And if they get rid of buddy dolls like Ruthie, does that mean the main doll is next?

 

I don't think so. Kit is one of their best sellers. I think they are just dropping the best friends doll concept entirely

[Crimson Wife]

I'm surprised that they would get rid of their one Asian doll. Seems a bit short-sighted given how the Asian population keeps increasing. The Census Bureau in 2012 said that Asians were the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the U.S.

[BigMamaBird]

I'm surprised that they would get rid of their one Asian doll. Seems a bit short-sighted given how the Asian population keeps increasing. The Census Bureau in 2012 said that Asians were the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the U.S.

 

Maybe the next main historical character will be Asian.  They have white, black, NA, hispanic, it seems like a logical next choice.

[Ameena]

I'm surprised that they would get rid of their one Asian doll. Seems a bit short-sighted given how the Asian population keeps increasing. The Census Bureau in 2012 said that Asians were the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the U.S.

 

Unfortunately I have to say I'm not surprised American Girl is doing this. I wouldn't be surprised if they announced Addy, Josefina and Kaya were being discontinued either.

 

Their last several dolls across all product lines have all been cookie cutter white blue eyed blonde variants. The leaked photos I've seen of the new 1950's doll that is supposed to be coming out soon is also the same, even though there was a TON of history for an African American doll in the 50's or 60's. There has never been a Girl of the Year of anything but Caucasian ethnicity {their one nod was Lindsey, the very first GOTY who was Jewish}. Even my 7yo dd remarked on how all the last dolls introduced have all looked ALIKE.

 

I hesitate to call the company racist, but until they prove it wrong by producing new girls of ethnic origins, I don't know what else I can call it. American Girl is owned by Mattel now, and Mattel does have a history of ethnic discrimination in their dolls & other toys.

[shawthorne44]

Awww, man.  Say the racism isn't so!  

DD is still too young, but I was really looking forward to a wholesome sturdy doll company.  I even bought one of the horses for $5 at a garage sale.  DD is almost 4 and she can still sit on that thing,.   

[unsinkable]

Unfortunately I have to say I'm not surprised American Girl is doing this. I wouldn't be surprised if they announced Addy, Josefina and Kaya were being discontinued either.

 

Their last several dolls across all product lines have all been cookie cutter white blue eyed blonde variants. The leaked photos I've seen of the new 1950's doll that is supposed to be coming out soon is also the same, even though there was a TON of history for an African American doll in the 50's or 60's. There has never been a Girl of the Year of anything but Caucasian ethnicity {their one nod was Lindsey, the very first GOTY who was Jewish}. Even my 7yo dd remarked on how all the last dolls introduced have all looked ALIKE.

 

I hesitate to call the company racist, but until they prove it wrong by producing new girls of ethnic origins, I don't know what else I can call it. American Girl is owned by Mattel now, and Mattel does have a history of ethnic discrimination in their dolls & other toys.

The Girls of the Year have been various ethnicities.

 

Marisol - Latina

Jess - Japanese-American mom and Irish-American dad

Sonali -- GotY friend who is Indian

Kanani -- Japanese/Hawaii dad and French/German mom

 

Could there be more diversity? Yes.

[Scrub Jay]

Disappointing.  I wouldn't say it is racism but $$$$.  The money is probably with the Caucasian dolls, unfortunately. :(

 

I was clueless about this BeForever rebranding.  Just sounds like they are dumbing things down.  Sigh.

[mommymilkies]

Disappointing.  I wouldn't say it is racism but $$$$.  The money is probably with the Caucasian dolls, unfortunately. :(

 

I was clueless about this BeForever rebranding.  Just sounds like they are dumbing things down.  Sigh.

This is what I was thinking a couple months ago when the blonde new one came out, but honestly after these retirements, I'm itching to call it racism.  It's just too blatant.  I have two strawberry blonde girls and all of my kids audibly groaned seeing there was yet another dancing blonde doll instead of something "more interesting".  I'm not saying dancing blondes aren't interesting, but they keep coming back to that.  Why not even a blonde science geek or something?

[unsinkable]

I will wait & see, but my gut is saying I don't like where the company is headed with the whole BeForever thing.

 

DD had all 4 on her list to buy but it's not going to happen. We may try for Ruthie, since dd already has Kit.

I love Ruthie bc she reminds me of a picture I have of my mom when she was little. My mom had black curly hair (like ringlets). So when DD got Ruthie, she named the doll my mom's middle name.

 

It sounds dorky but it is so sweet to me.

[mommymilkies]

I love Ruthie bc she reminds me of a picture I have of my mom when she was little. My mom had black curly hair (like ringlets). So when DD got Ruthie, she named the doll my mom's middle name.

 

It sounds dorky but it is so sweet to me.

She's one of my favorites, too.  I like the personality in the historic dolls more than anything. 

[unsinkable]

This is what I was thinking a couple months ago when the blonde new one came out, but honestly after these retirements, I'm itching to call it racism. It's just too blatant. I have two strawberry blonde girls and all of my kids audibly groaned seeing there was yet another dancing blonde doll instead of something "more interesting". I'm not saying dancing blondes aren't interesting, but they keep coming back to that. Why not even a blonde science geek or something?

There have been.

 

One girl wanted to save tide pools, another called herself a scientist, one liked to learn about the Maya because her parents were archaeologists, one raised a service dog, one was an artist.

 

There were 2 dancers and a gymnast.

[mommymilkies]

You're right.  Not all of the blondes were dancers.  I was getting confused with another point-the similar name to the GoML doll (Isabel) and Marisol-the dancer.  It seems redundant to combine the two.  Surely they can be more creative than that? And yes, the archaeologist.  That one has cost me a pretty penny.  My oldest is a major tomboy but HAD to have that one.  :lol:

 

I'm not saying I agree with these blog posts and I will warn you for some NSFW language (cussing). But these are a few takes on the subject of lack of diversity in the dolls: 

 

http://americangirloutsider.blogspot.com/2013/11/ag-complaint-department-girl-of-year.html

http://beadsbraidsbeyond.blogspot.com/2010/12/open-letter-to-american-girl.html

[Tohru]

http://americangirloutsider.blogspot.com/2013/11/ag-complaint-department-girl-of-year.html

 

Wow.  I read her angry blog.

I find the term "white" very offensive because it is a catylst for racism and other derogatory words.  I much prefer calling a person with paler skin "Caucasian" or a specific Eastern European ancestry.  Even light skin vs dark skin seems to set off a negative connotation. 

Maybe paler-tan-brown sounds more neutral? Is "pale" offensive?

 

We should just eliminate the term "white" when describing skin color, we'd be much better off.

[Tohru]

I'm surprised that they would get rid of their one Asian doll. Seems a bit short-sighted given how the Asian population keeps increasing. The Census Bureau in 2012 said that Asians were the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the U.S.

 

Culturally, Asian parents do not put a high priority on spending money to buy chidren's toys.

[sewingmama]

Culturally, Asian parents do not put a high priority on spending money to buy chidren's toys.

And when they do they often buy the Caucasian version.

 

When I lived in Korea I was looking forward to access to more ethnic dolls....however just about every doll I saw for sale was Caucasian. Pale skin is valued over there and that is what the little girls want to play with... it doesn't help that most of the Disney princesses are Caucasian.

 

No Asian child will ever own a black doll.... unless they are raised in the US and taught differently.

 

There is heavy racism in Asian countries about dark skin.

 

My own DD buys heavily into the blonde/blue eye theme. It probably has a lot to do with the fact she is that combo herself. She does like the dark haired or dark skinned dolls but she has limited money and so her first choice is always the blondies. She has Caroline and now she wants Isabelle. She would probably be happy to get other colour types ...AFTER she has run out of blondies to buy first LOL.

 

When I lived in Alice Springs with a high Aboriginal population I was also surprised to see the Aboriginal kids toteing around Caucasian dolls..especially since there were dark skinned dolls available.

 

I guess the blondies are preferred by all ethnicities which is why they sell the best.

 

However I am sure the customer base of AG is largely middle class white america... unfortunately the minorities often can't afford such luxuries... and thus the Caucasian dolls sell the best.

[plumshadow]

My DD has Cecile. That's really disappointing-not surprising but disappointing. I was hoping American Girl would set them selves just a little more apart with their brand and be more accommodating but money drives all.  These dolls are expensive and very much a luxury but if I'm going to spend the extra money I'd rather not have her subject to more of the same covert (usually overt) messages that Caucasian, blonde and blue is the true standard and everything else is filler.  I can save my money and go to Barbie for that.

[StaceyinLA]

Tell me more about the name change and what this means for the products overall? Does anyone know? I'm gonna be really bummed if the company changes before I get to supply all my granddaughters with American Girls and Bitty Babies.

[craftyerin]

Nobody really knows. All we really know is that they're rebranding the historical collection as "BeForever", are changing some of the "meet" outfits, book covers, and bringing back Samantha.

[shawthorne44]

I am a bit mollified by the idea that blondes with white skin are what they offer because it sells, rather than a racist plot.  

 

I remember in Taiwan being disturbed by the mannequins.  I was engaged and mannequins wearing wedding dresses were everywhere.  All had humongous breasts.  I am a D and from my observation that was the largest in the country.  But, the mannequins were larger than me.  So, the little girls wanting pale blonde dolls wouldn't surprise me.  Sad though.

[SadieMarie]

This makes me kind of glad that my dd is almost nine and will be finishing with dolls before too long. She only plays with them now if her friends want to. I don't expect Mattel to do great things.

[unsinkable]

I am a bit mollified by the idea that blondes with white skin are what they offer because it sells, rather than a racist plot.

 

I remember in Taiwan being disturbed by the mannequins. I was engaged and mannequins wearing wedding dresses were everywhere. All had humongous breasts. I am a D and from my observation that was the largest in the country. But, the mannequins were larger than me. So, the little girls wanting pale blonde dolls wouldn't surprise me. Sad though.

You can buy an American Girl doll of any race in their My Amercian Girl line. There are 40 choices.

 

There were 2 black historical dolls. Now one is retiring.

 

There has NOT been a black Girl of the Year, but not all of them have been white with blond hair, either, see my above posts. All of them different "interests," too, see my above posts.

 

Can there be more diversity? Yes. But there is some now.

[unsinkable]

This makes me kind of glad that my dd is almost nine and will be finishing with dolls before too long. She only plays with them now if her friends want to. I don't expect Mattel to do great things.

Mattel has owned AG since the late 90s.

[Paige]

I'm disappointed. We have Cecile and Marie-Grace and I hate that their accessories will soon only be found on the secondary market. I find it dishonest for AG to say that they sell blonde/blue eyed dolls because they sell, yet they sell because they are heavily promoted! If you look through the catalog and stores, Josefina, Addy, Kaya, and Ivy always had the least stuff. How can their stuff sell well if they don't have any stuff to sell? In my experience, girls buy the dolls in large part because they like the accessories and clothes associated with them and hope to buy them later. My kids needed some persuasion to see that if they love an outfit, they don't have to have the doll that goes with it- it can go on any doll! 

 

I think a doll that isn't blonde and fair would sell very well if she had an interesting story and plenty of beautiful accessories and clothes. I actually think she would sell better because many AG fans already have the blonde girls and would like something different. 

[Dmmetler]

My DD, who is caucasian but has dark straight hair, dark eyes, and slightly olive-toned skin, picked Kaya because she said Kaya looked more like her than the other AG dolls. That and she really relates to Kaya's stories, so she can see herself in Kaya. She doesn't usually see herself in the DOTY, although I think she would relate to Kailey, Jess, and Lanie, all of which were before she was interested at all (and Kailey was before she was born). She wanted Kanani, but I gave her the choice of buying more outfits/accessories for Kaya or buying Kanani, and she decided that Kaya could protect Hawaiian wildlife.

 

One thing DD dislikes is that, as she puts it, AG only thinks girls want to have cats, dogs, and horses as pets. (And the exceptions are still animals traditionally thought of as cute, like Kanani's seal) She thinks it would do wonders for understanding if they'd just come out with a DOTY who has a pet snake or spider, or who built bat houses, or something like that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JFSinIL]

Maybe the next main historical character will be Asian.  They have white, black, NA, hispanic, it seems like a logical next choice.

 

Maybe they can find a way to have a main Asian or Arabic..maybe Muslem....character doll.