I’ve read about it in four different places in the last twenty-four hours so I decided that this was definitely time for a post. It’s about the American Girl historical dolls – a phenomenon that has enchanted children for many years now, but there is still not an Asian American Girl doll. In her article Not Quite a Rainbow on the sacbee.com website (The Sacramento Bee), Anita Creamer writes, “Families and activists say American Girl dolls are missing a vital part of history: Where are the Asian American faces?”

She goes on to write about the different races that are already represented by the American Girls collection:

“With its characteristic emphasis both on diversity and independent female role models, American Girl - which is owned by Mattel - added Addy, an African American doll from the Civil War era, to its historical collection in 1993. Josefina, a Mexican American doll from the early 1800s, appeared in 1997, followed by Kaya, an American Indian doll from the 1700s, in 2002….Yet every other major racial group is already represented in American Girl's premier showcase, its collection of historical dolls and books.”

You can see the full article here.

When my sister was younger, she wanted an American Girl doll badly. I was older (much to old for dolls), but I admit that there was something different about the American Girl dolls. My sister’s came complete with historical dress and books. Wouldn’t it have been all the more fantastic if one of those dolls had an Asian face (Chinese, Japanese, Korean…).

There is so much comfort in having things around you that look like you. We can order these things from all over the globe through the internet, but that is no replacement for being able to give your child a piece of popular culture that looks like them. I don’t have a daughter and my son currently thinks it’s fun to drop baby dolls on their heads, but I have to say that I would be tempted to buy an Asian American Girl doll if they offered one today.

If you would like to join in on the letter writing campaign, The American Girl Company has a special form at: http://www.americangirl.com/emailus/index.html.