# American Girl is a bleeping racket **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 24, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188 "2009-04-24T05:16:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/101 "2009-04-25T22:51:13Z")
Julie’s friend, Ivy, is Chinese-American. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/102 "2009-04-25T23:37:50Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > Me, I got Barbies, which I did not want. As a result my brother and I made up Barbie’s Torture Chamber, and Barbie, Sacrifice to the Alligator God play set. Aren’t there websites which have images of Barbies in bondage, and being tortured? I’ve seen them somewhere but haven’t gone looking in ages. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/103 "2009-04-26T00:20:24Z")
Well, you have to admit: the entire scheme, from the insanely manipulative marketing to the obsessive consumption, IS impressively, hell, almost eerily, American. ---
**Author:** ![purple\_haze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@purple\_haze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_haze)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/104 "2009-04-26T00:42:36Z")
Our daughter was _way_ into the whole American Girl doll thing, and between my mom, my sister, and us she had quite a bit of it. Do I regret it? Nah. She spent a lot of time between the ages of 6-10 or so playing with her AG dolls, horse, dog, school set, food, and so on. Mom and I also took the kids to the AG place in Chicago, among other destinations. I remember her little brother brought his dinosaur (he was about four) and dinosaur got a booster seat as well. You see, when you eat in the restaurant the dolls sit in booster seats that attach to the tables. I’m sure that many of you are retching right about now. Do I regret any of that? Nope. They are all good memories and it was worth it. Now that she is 20 the books, accessories, most of the clothing, and several of the dolls have long since been sold. We had a garage sale. You should have seen the feeding frenzy among those women when we sold that stuff. I kept a couple of dolls and things for future grandchildren, and the rest we just let go when it was time to pass them on to another little girl. Why would this stuff be any worse than all of the video game systems that most people have? Talk about expensive stuff! We still don’t have a Wii because of the cost of the system, not to mention the games. I do have to say that it’s nice in many ways having older kids. Our house is an adult house now - no plastic toys in the yard or in the house. Wahoo! ---
**Author:** ![purple\_haze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@purple\_haze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_haze)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/105 "2009-04-26T01:13:32Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > That’s what you get by getting sucked into the conspicuous consumption crap. I hope I have the fortitude to resist my daughter. It’s a form of child abuse to give into these whims IMO. My friends let their daughter harangue them into buying crap. If my daughter harangues me that ensures that she WON’T get it. She has to charm me. Lately when I get mad at her for something she throws her arms wide and shouts, ‘Hugs, hugs!’ That one is hard to resist. But I don’t buy her tons of toys, not even for Christmas and birthday. I can see that you have certain standards concerning what you want for your daughter, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The problem with going too far in the opposite direction is that children don’t see this stuff as conspicuous consumption, overblown marketing, or child abuse (where the heck did that come from, by the way?) They see a toy that they want to play with. As you control the purse strings, you get to decide what to bring into your home. These dolls are not “crap”. If they were poorly made, why would they be so popular? If the books were poorly written, why would they be in every bookstore, library, and neighborhood? Sweeping generalizations may make you feel better about your decisions, but not everyone agrees with your viewpoint. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/106 "2009-04-26T05:01:14Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > “A” movie? Try several! Yes, our daughter has them all–although, since she won them in a raffle, we at least were spared paying for them. Am I wrong, or is the one that actually ended up in the theaters last year #4? I’ll be honest, I liked the first two. I wouldn’t mind seeing the others, either. I have no interest in the dolls, even though I still like some of Lee Middleton’s. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/107 "2009-04-26T06:39:54Z")
My favorite accessory in the catalog is Kit’s scooter. Because money was so tight in Kit’s day, she had to make her own toys, including this scooter she made from an orange crate. She even made a place on it for her trusty basset hound, Grace. The scooter can be yours for $24 plus shipping. Kit herself starts at $95, and Grace is $16. They throw in some irony for free. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/108 "2009-04-26T12:04:50Z")
I imagine Dio will at least take comfort in the fact that American Girl torks off right-religious groups: [http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2466](http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2466) ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/109 "2009-04-26T13:18:19Z")
My daughter (named Molly) loved the Molly doll and the books, but we were way too poor, and it was not a huge thing back then, so we basically escaped it. But my nieces love the dolls…their parents are very frugal, so each girl had to earn the money for her own doll, saving up birthday money, negotiating extra chores, working for their dad’s landscape company… they were determined, and they got their dolls! Back when I worked in a floundering downtown mall, I heard the stories about the Chicago American Girl store, how dads on business trips would arrive there from the airport, list in hand…I tried to interest the mall in trying for a store…we were the ideal boutique-y type mall at the time, but the management didn’t even attempt it, and now they are nearly empty except for a food court. The downtown mall I work in now is also struggling, and has the same marketing director…maybe I should talk to her again? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/110 "2009-04-26T15:24:45Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Julie’s friend, Ivy, is Chinese-American. Yeah, I know the woman what wrote the Ivy book. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/111 "2009-04-26T17:04:08Z")
> [@purple\_haze](#): > > Why would this stuff be any worse than all of the video game systems that most people have? Talk about expensive stuff! We still don’t have a Wii because of the cost of the system, not to mention the games. I completely agree. It’s a function of these boards, where traditionally feminine stuff (dolls, romantic comedies) gets constantly slammed in their entirety as stupid/boring/waste of money/“oppressive” (:rolleyes:) etc, while traditionally masculine things (video games, action films) don’t, except on a case-by-case basis (“Man, those new Star Wars movies sucked!”). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/112 "2009-04-26T17:44:41Z")
Sheesh, are you guys a bunch of killjoys! 😛 My parents were not wealthy, but they’d club together with my grandmother for the Samantha doll stuff in the late 80s. I got the doll for Christmas, the bed for my birthday, et cetera, until I had pretty much the full set. The quality of the toys was extremely high, the books were excellent, and we got things like cookbooks with period recipes and a little Victorian boardgame. I was also lucky enough to start on the Felicity collection when I was a little older. All in all I played with the dolls into my teens and kept them out in my bedroom until I was a junior in high school. Samantha and Felicity finally did get packed away toward the day either I have a child or I have a friend whose kid I like. 😉 They were, again, very high quality dolls that stood up to rambunctious play and repeated hair-braiding. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/113 "2009-04-26T18:12:22Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I completely agree. It’s a function of these boards, where traditionally feminine stuff (dolls, romantic comedies) gets constantly slammed in their entirety as stupid/boring/waste of money/“oppressive” (:rolleyes:) etc, while traditionally masculine things (video games, action films) don’t, except on a case-by-case basis (“Man, those new Star Wars movies sucked!”). Thank you for saying this; I thought I was the only one who noticed. And how creepy is **mswas** , teaching his daughter to sell her affections ("she throws her arms wide and shouts, ‘Hugs, hugs!’ ") for trinkets, and to get out of trouble? Great life lesson for a young lady, there. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/114 "2009-04-26T19:36:49Z")
If Dio’s daughters have any childless uncles or aunts with disposable income, Dio might next time let them know one of the kids is jonesing for pricey whassit. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/115 "2009-04-26T20:06:09Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > I imagine Dio will at least take comfort in the fact that American Girl torks off right-religious groups: [http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2466](http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2466) That’s good to know at least. $179 to simultaneously make the kid happy and piss off Dobson is a pretty good twofer. > [@](#): > > If Dio’s daughters have any childless uncles or aunts with disposable income, Dio might next time let them know one of the kids is jonesing for pricey whassit. Just sayin’. I’ll send you a list. Some of it might look like stuff her daddy wants, but it’s really her, I swear. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/116 "2009-04-26T21:18:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Some of it might look like stuff her daddy wants, but it’s really her, I swear. We have quite the miniature train collection, because my daughter was brainwashed into wanting it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/117 "2009-04-26T22:27:55Z")
I just dodged a bullet. After attending a birthday party, we almost stopped off at the AG store in the Natick Collective. It seems that GF’s daughter decapitated one of her dolls this morning, and was in a blind panic about it. GF was stressed about all of it, as she’s sick, sore (possibly a couple of pulled muscles), and sleep-deprived. A trip to the NC would have been too much. They finally decided to make the trip tomorrow instead. Though I was a little curious to see the cult in action, I’m glad we ended up not going. It’s too hot. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/118 "2009-04-26T22:46:01Z")
Got your email. I’m impressed that at six months Kali is already interested in owning the complete series of Sopranos on DVD, but OK. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/119 "2009-04-26T23:08:57Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I just dodged a bullet. After attending a birthday party, we almost stopped off at the AG store in the Natick Collective. It seems that GF’s daughter decapitated one of her dolls this morning, and was in a blind panic about it. I’ve heard the head specialists in the ICU at American Girl Mercy are the best in the biz. At the very least, they should be able to get her on the transplant list. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188/120 "2009-04-26T23:26:16Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > No, I am not what you just said. Rather, I am mock bitter about not having received something that as a child I desperately wanted for many years. However, I eventually managed to get over it. I hope that you manage to get over the stick that has apparently been rammed far up your sphincter as well. Stick? :dubious: Maybe you misunderstood me due to lack of tone. I thought I was laughing with you, not at you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-girl-is-a-bleeping-racket/494188.md?page=7)