Monday, December 6, 2010

An Open Letter to American Girl *UPDATE With Response*




12/7- Update with response:


Dear American Girl friend,

We appreciate your interest in a doll with very tightly curled hair. We
are sorry, we do not have a doll matching your daughter's description at
the present time.

We currently offer 40 different combinations of eye color, hair color
and style, and skin tone. Girls can create their special My American
Girl? doll using our new online tool that allows a girl to personalize
her doll's look onscreen, including the addition of ear piercing, braces
and glasses. They can also create a unique personal style for their
dolls through an expansive collection of outfits and accessories that
reflect their favorite interests and activities.

Although we do not currently offer a doll with the combination of
features you are looking for, we hope you will continue to watch our
website for new developments to this product line.

Thanks again for your interest in American Girl!

Sincerely,

American Girl Customer Service
Phone: 1-800-845-0005 or 608-831-5210
Fax: 608-828-4790
Available Monday - Sunday 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. Central Time


This seems to be the same response someone else posted. I still urge you all to email them. Thank you!


I asked Cassidy of  Natural Selection to share this open letter as a guest post. I would like for us all to join together and email American Girl with this link, in hopes that they will further look into this. Click HERE for their contact form or email service@americangirl.com Thank you!

__________________________________


Dear American Girl—

I grew up as a huge fan of your dolls and your books. I pored over the pages of your biographical books of these young girls. I soaked up the historical facts of Addy, Felicity, Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly, girls who grew up in our country in times past, girls who very well could have been me if I had lived 60, 75, 100, 150 years ago. I applaud your efforts in striving to ensure that girls today are not only aware of, but also proud of their heritage.

All American Girl Dolls

More recently, (and past my age of doll-playing) you introduced a line of American Girl dolls that are designed to look like their young female owners. “What will she look like?” asks your website. Well, the clear response for any young lady looking for her doll-sized counterpart is: SHE’LL LOOK JUST LIKE ME. As a person of color, I was pleased to see your attentiveness to including a wide spectrum of skin tones and eye colors for the dolls.




However, as an African American who wears their hair completely natural without any chemicals of heat to alter the curl pattern, I was more than disappointed to see your exclusion of highly textured, curly, kinky, coily hair options for these lookalike dolls. Sure, you do have one doll with tan skin and loose ringlets, that I assume is supposed to be the representative of the entire ethnic demographic with natural hair, but what about options for those who hair that is more tightly coiled than the options you provide?

In all you have 40 dolls offered in this collection and only 8 of them have wavy or curly hair. There are many young girls of all ethnicities from Caucasian to Indian to African American to Jewish to Hispanic who have hair that is excluded from your offerings of hair texture. If the goal of this line is supposed to promote and encourage a healthier sense of self esteem for young girls by creating dolls that look like them, what sort of message does it send that they must fit into the aesthetic ideals of straight hair or loose curls to match your dolls?



I was extremely put off by the fact that you advertised this doll as having “textured” hair. Frankly, I see nothing textured about this long, straight hair and would love to hear your explanation about this product descriptor.



I called your customer service lines to ask about this issue as well as see if your in-store salons might have styling offerings catered towards this demographic because of their ability to further customize the dolls to their owners’ preferences. The first person I spoke to was a customer service representative who I asked if there were any styling options that American Girl dolls could have that would reflect more ethnic hair styles. When asked what I meant, I explained highly textured coils or twists or braids or dreadlocks, popular styles of many African Americans, including my 8-year old sister who is a huge fan of American Girl dolls. I was shocked to hear your customer service representative reply to my question by saying “Dreadlocks!?!?!? We would never do that to our dolls.” Can you imagine what sort of impact a response like this could have on a young girl, especially one that your company is attempting to celebrate- a REAL American Girl? The customer service representative continued to explain that they did offer many braiding styles that might work, styles such as “two braids, a pony tail flip with braid, two half braids, two fishtail braids, a half pony tail braid, ponytail veil, half side braid, or pig tails” which are offered in stores for $15-$20. While these braid offereings as being well-intentioned, I see these styles as being catered towards straight hair as well.


After this first conversation, I decided to call your company back in hopes of speaking to a marketing representative who could explain to me the decisions made about your product line and why this exclusion of African American hair. While the customer service representative did not have access to the marketing department’s contact information, she did inform me that creating curly hair textures was impossible due to the fact that the American Girl doll hair was made of a synthetic fiber called Kanekalon. Having paid countless trips to beauty supply stores throughout my life, I know exactly what Kanaekalon is. No, you cant use heat on it to manipulate the texture, however it IS widely used to create wigs, including those that have more tightly coiled curl patterns.



A Kanekalon Wig

What it appears to me is that it is more than possible to create a multitude of customized hair textures, but do not want to expand the style options to include those with highly textured hair. I commend you for including wheelchairs, retainers and headgear and other accessories catered to smaller demographics for the purpose of creating an inclusive community. You should expand your doll hair options to include more textures reflective of natural, highly textured hair and include cornrows, flat-twists, two strand twists and bantu knots in your menu of hair styles at your salons. Whether it is for motives based on maximizing profit or otherwise that you have decided not to reflect naturally curly hair, this exclusion can be damaging to the psyches and self-esteems of young ladies as they grow up. It can also be a hindrance to them as they develop hair-maintenance skills on hair that is very differently textured than their own. I encourage you to take a long hard look at the ever-growing diversity of today’s living, breathing American girls and continue to work to make sure that your dolls are inclusive of all.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter,

Best,

Cassidy Blackwell

Natural Selection

28 comments :

  1. This was a great post. My little sisters are natural and love American Girl yet I have not bought them the dolls simply because I didn't want them to develop a complex about their hair texture. It is a subtle manner that black girls are told they are not good enough. I wills surely email the company.

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  2. In the same way, the red hair is also kind of cruddy. My little girl's hair is bold red, but they just have 6 with "strawberry-blonde" hair which is barely stawberry and mostly blonde. And there are two "auburn" ones, but they just aren't that red... I guess I just wonder how hard it would be. They custom make the doll, so they wouldn't have to stock up that much on the stuff. Plus, I'm thinking they could do a limited release for those specific hair types/ skin tones and then offer more if sales were good... I don't know. It's not my world either, but those are my simple ideas. ;) Anyway, thanks for the awesome post! You've encouraged me to write them a letter as well!

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  3. Thank you so much for this letter! I was recently in an American Girl store and was very disappointed to see only bitty babies with hair slightly similar to my daughter's tightly coiled, natural hair.

    I am outraged at the hairstyle customer service lady's response! Wow. I'd love to see them offer cornrows and braid-locs as styling options, as well.

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  5. VERY well said! When we bought my daughter a "look alike" doll, we ended up going with My Twinn, as they had more hair and skin selections to choose from. The dolls hair is vey curly and long, like my daughters'. The CS agent on the phone said that it could also be short and curly too. Better, but not perfect!

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  6. Cassidy's letter is great. I remember looking at these dolls for my girls and then clicking away in disappointment after not getting anywhere close to approximating one daughter's hair. I'm so glad to see this here on BBB.

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  7. Thanks for this informative post! I've emailed the company.

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  8. Ms. Blackwell does raise some very valid points in her letter.

    It's good that American Girl offers dolls in various skin tones. However, they do need to work on offering more hair textures. I'm even more shocked at the response Ms. Blackwell received when she phoned the American Girl Doll Company. “Dreadlocks!?!?!? We would never do that to our dolls.” The customer service representative really made it sound like something is wrong with dreadlocks.

    I would let those American Girl Dolls go and find a company who makes curly haired dolls with braids, twists, afros, and yes even dreads.

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  9. I didnt read the whole letter because, to be honest, I am done with American Girl. That comment about the dreadlocks just confirms for me that I will never deal with them. I previously noticed the hair issue as well but my problems with them started from when I was a kid. Years ago I thought that it was pretty messed up that the only black historical girl was a slave, or freed slave, whatever. I understand that in those times that was what was going on but why didnt they pick a different time period. They have the 20th century dolls now, including one from the 70s. Why couldnt she be from the 60's during the time of civil rights? But I made my peace with it and moved on. Until recently, I was looking through their new catalog and all of the historical girls had two pages of items to buy complete with, best friends, huge beds, activity clothes, etc. etc. EXCEPT for Kaya (native american doll) and Addy. One page. No friends. No beds. All Addy had was a half dime and a gourd. A gourd! Like, follow the drinking gourd.... Im done with American Girl. My daughter will never own one if I can help it. Good luck with your inquiry though. Im interested to see how they reply, if they do.

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  10. I wrote to American Girl about this. Here's the response I got... pretty much sounds "canned" and I'm unimpressed:

    Dear Ms. [XXXX],

    We appreciate your interest in a brown doll with kinky, curly hair. You
    may want to look at our Bitty Twin Collection. Our Bitty Twins (
    product code G2347) closely match this description. We are sorry, but
    we do not have an 18 inch doll matching this description at the present
    time.

    We currently offer 40 different combinations of eye color, hair color
    and style, and skin tone. Girls can create their special My American
    Girl? doll using our new online tool that allows a girl to personalize
    her doll's look onscreen, including the addition of ear piercing, braces
    and glasses. They can also create a unique personal style for their
    dolls through an expansive collection of outfits and accessories that
    reflect their favorite interests and activities.

    Although we do not currently offer a doll with the combination of
    features you are looking for, we hope you will continue to watch our
    website for new developments to this product line.

    Thanks again for your interest in American Girl!

    Sincerely,

    American Girl Customer Service
    Phone: 1-800-845-0005 or 608-831-5210
    Fax: 608-828-4790
    Available Monday - Sunday 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. Central Time

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow!! Anisa has never shown any interest in these dolls so I've never had a reason to look at them. The representatives response is appalling!! Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

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  12. When I was growing up I showed an interest in The American Girl Doll to my mother. After looking at what they offered in the African American Section she and I decided that it would not be appropriate for me to own such a doll.

    African Americans has always been depicted as Slaves and considering how far along we have come, one would think that these Dolls would have adapted to the times.

    I am a woman well into my Forties and I wear my hair in tiny plates that are representive of Sister locks. It would be a plessure to purchase a doll that resembles myself or even my daughter or Granddaughters. But they just don't come close.

    The company has expressed in more ways than one that they never plan to make these dolls more representative of the "Today" African American, so it seems pretty simple to me, that they will not benefit from the money an African American can spend with the company.

    Sounds to me that they really don't care if we as African Americans spend our hard earned money on them or not. This has been an issue for over the past 35 or so years!!!!!

    So to keep it short I will say, They can keep their appalling comments and their dolls and we will find someone that will make dolls more representative as to whom we are as African Americans Girls!

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  13. I was at the American Girl store with my niece and daughter this summer. My niece is blonde and blue eyes, my daugher has tight curls and brown eyes (Ethiopian). My niece is a bit older and is really into these dolls/accessories - and had NO PROBLEM finding a doll that looks like her! My daughter, although much younger and not into dolls yet, looked nothing like the dolls they offered girls...I was soooo saddened by this. My husband and I looked into the glass case they have the holds all the dolls and commented on how not ONE has natural, tightly curly hair...the darkest skinned doll had stick straight hair. I will write a letter to them too...even though my daughter won't be interested in their dolls for a while, at least I can express concern for all the curly girls who are interested right now in finding a doll that looks like them!!!

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  14. This is a wonderful letter. I am very familiar with American girl, but never truly thought about their selections for hair types of African-American girls. That "textured" description, now that I think of it, is a shame. When making a company catered to all ethnicities, you must be aware of the physical traits within the ethnicity, one of them of course being the hair type and texture. Seeing how the customer service rep responded to the suggestion of dreadlocks, I assume that they aren't as open to being inclusive of ALL as they say they are. That really disappoints me. I really do hope that Ms. Cassidy gets a response.

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  15. Shawn Dennis is the Chief Marketing Officer at American Girl. (I know this because we used to work together when she was at Dell.) I know she has two daughters and I'm sure she would be interested to hear this feedback. I'm not sure what her email address is. Maybe shawn.dennis@americangirl.com or shawn.dennis@mattel.com? Mattel owns American Girl, so you may be able to get in touch with someone there, as well.

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  16. I personally love the American Girl Collection. I own four of them and I plan on adding to my collection. I won't respond to the entire letter but I do have a response to the last part of the letter since this is after all a hair blog. Although the dolls don't come with flat twists or cornrows, you can do those hairstyles yourself as I've demonstrated on my blog quite a few times. There are so many different hair textures in the world that I think its quite unreasonable for one to expect a company to have each and everyone of those textures to represent everyone. I'm personally just happy that they have a few colored dolls and although they don't offer dolls with highly textured hair, I think we should all seriously think of who these dolls are designed for. The My American Girl doll collection is designed for girls 8 and older. I don't know of many 8 year old girls who would know how to PROPERLY care for their dolls highly textured hair. These dolls are way to expensive to have to go to the doll hospital because a little girl doesn't know how to care for their dolls hair. The straight hair and slightly textured hair is hair that any little girl can run a comb through. I understand where the writer of this letter is coming from but if someone wants a doll with dreadlocks for example, maybe they should get one customized. Long story short, some people will never be satisfied and its impossible for any company to make EVERYONE happy. I am very happy that they have minority dolls and with time, I'm sure some of their dolls will have distinct characteristics. Until that day comes, we should all appreciate american girls attempt of having dolls with slightly textured hair.

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  17. Well your response was worded a lot more nicely than the one I got:

    Dear Ms. Callahan,

    We appreciate your thoughtful suggestion; however, we do not accept specific ideas or designs submitted by anyone outside of our company. All of our products are conceived and designed by an in-house design and development team. We hope you understand.

    Thank you again for writing. Your comments and insights help us determine if we are meeting the needs and interests of the girls we serve.

    Sincerely,

    American Girl Customer Service
    Phone: 1-800-845-0005 or 608-831-5210
    Fax: 608-828-4790
    Available Monday - Sunday 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. Central Time

    So basically...they don't want any consumer input? Sad. I only have sons right now, but when I have a daughter, she will never own and AG after that response.

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  18. You know, I just today saw an American Girl commercial and was HIGHLY upset because there wasn't ONE kinky-curly haired doll. Funny that I found this post later on today. I really love your response to the company. Do you mind if I put a link to this post on my blog?

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  19. I'm also sending American Girl an email. Here is my post about it:

    http://blog.lifeinthecarpoollane.com/2010/12/dear-american-girl.html

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  20. I appreciate the post that acknowledges that white girls have curly hair or kinky hair too. We get forgotten a lot of the time! I love American Girls and hope to God they learn from this mistake. I hate to see people throw in the towel on such a wonderful series. With so much crap out there for girls, it's a real blessing. We just need to keep on them to improve on what they've got.

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  21. I'm way late on this, just catching up with blog posts, this is EXACTLY why I got my girls http://www.mytwinn.com/Custom-Twinn-Doll because they had different options that were closer to realistic in comparison to themselves. I'm glad this is being addressed and hope to see an improvement soon.

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  22. MY DAD BOUGHT MY DAUGHTER THE CLOSES MIXED DOLL FROM AMERICAN GIRL ITS STILL CUTE I AGREE,BUT I NEVER LET MY DAUGHTER GET A DOLL THAT IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE HER I THINK RIGHT THERE STARTS RACISM THAT IS MY OPINION AND I WAS RAISED THE SAME WAY AND I LIVE IN THE SOUTH AND RACISM IS HORRIBLE DOWN HERE,BUT THAT IS ONLY MY OPINION I UNDERSTAND THE LETTER,BUT PEOPLE CHANGE PEOPLE DONT CHANGE PEOPLE HAVE A MAGICAL DAY ºOº

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  23. American Girl Doll Hairstyles poster...you should be ashamed of yourself. That was a terrible post. "I'm just happy there are a few minority dolls." Complacent people like you is what holds the world back from change.

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  24. The Pink Bride poster: There is nothing wrong with my comment and I should not be ashamed of stating my opinion. First off, if you are going to quote something, quote it correctly. Not once did I say "I'm just happy there are a few minority dolls." What I did write was "I'm personally just happy that they have a few colored dolls" and if you would continue to read the rest of my comment, you would understand what I meant by that. I am not complacent. I appreciate their attempt to add minority dolls to their collection and as the years come, I look forward to seeing more minority dolls from them. Never once did I say I was completely satisfied and that they shouldn't add to the collection. That would be complacent.

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  25. wow! i'm shocked the rep was so comfortable exclaiming that they'd never put dreadlocks on their dolls. they know what they are doing.

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  26. I'm so glad it's not just me! I actually wrote to American Girl myself, without ever having seen this blog post! I was so amazed that they would have black dolls on their site, without curly hair?!?! This movement towards natural hair isn't just a phase. Sooner or later they will realize they are missing out on some serious $$$ and rethink their decision. For their sake, I hope it won't be too late.

    Great post!

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  27. The American Girl dolls are such a joke to me. Also, although it's good for little black girls to know the history of slavery, how many little black girls want to play with a doll that represents a slave girl? My daughter was totally uninterested. The dress is drab looking, the black boots are hideous. Yes, I realize that slavery wasn't glamorous, but don't little girls tend to be drawn to dolls that are dressed in attire that is pleasing to the eye? They could have done a black American Girl doll from the Harlem Renaissance era (her parents could be artists and she could want to be one...just imagine the stories...) or from the 60's or 70's or something. Something that would make a little black girl go, "Mommy, she looks pretty. I WANT that DOLL!!!" I mean, lets be real, isn't that where it starts? My daughter received the doll as a gift and to be totally honest, that doll makes her sad. And it makes me sad.

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  28. I am so happy to say that American Girl somewhat listened and added a doll with dark skin and tight curls. However as I said it is only ONE doll.

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