There are so many ways to criticize the American Girl doll complex. If you still need convincing, Dr. Michael Rich from the Center on Media and Child Health offers this simple fact:

In short, the less that a doll, or any toy, does on its own—the fewer pre-written stories they come with, and the fewer bells and whistles that determine how a child plays with it—the better the toy is for challenging, stretching, and energizing the growing brain. . . . I encourage you to find [a doll] that isn’t branded at all. Its lack of branding and back story will allow her imagination to go wherever it takes her.*

Think before buying: Who benefits from this purchase? Is it really the child? Is it me (because *I* think it’s cute)? Or is it the multi-million dollar corporation behind it?

More about Dr. Rich, Ask the Mediatrician, and the Center on Media and Child Health.

*Susan Linn has this topic covered in The Case for Make-Believe (now available in paperback).

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 5:18 am and is filed under Mattel, Research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.