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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2017)
June 2017 - EASTERN OREGON PARENT - 15 A doll’s journey, from Barbie to ... American Boy? through World War Two, the Revo- Logan Everette, a young drum- Pendleton Public Library sought American Girl donations for its own lutionary War, and the Progressive mer growing up in Tennessee, will Era. American Girl has since ex- run doll buyers the standard $115; collection. Since 2014, Pendleton panded to feature dolls has acquired six historical from a growing variety fiction American Girl dolls. of time periods. Each Each one was donated by either a generous indi- doll comes with a book vidual or an organization introducing the new here in town. The dolls character and is fol- can be checked out for a lowed up by several ad- week at a time and have ditional titles. Whereas been hugely popular. Barbie helps to teach When Logan Everette young girls what they was announced this past can grow to be, Ameri- February, the library felt can Girl aims to show a strong responsibility to young women what add Logan to its grow- they can achieve in the ing collection of non- here and now, while traditional check-outs. simultaneously teach- ing them about the Often the circulation desk receives requests for male experience of young dolls, a request the library Americans. American Girl has tackled the had not been able to fill plight of immigrants, in the past. In addition to Kennedy Alvarado (left) plays with the new Logan doll Native Americans, those and her sister Lydia helps American Girl Cecile toast a receiving requests for a surrounded by and af- boy they often encounter marshmallow in the library’s National Parks room. young boys who wish to fected by slavery, and check out a doll but are too shy to he was the result of years of re- much more. ask for a girl doll. Now that Logan Recently, American Girl has shift- quests from parents and children has arrived (courtesy of another alike. Girls have long wanted a boy ed their focus from solely creating generous donor) it is the library’s historical fiction dolls. Now, Ameri- to round out their collection and hope that both boys and girls alike boys have long sought a doll that can Girl releases an annual doll-of- will feel comfortable checking him the-year with her own unique story reflects them. The company has that is easily relatable to nine-year- yet to say whether or not more boy out. Are you wondering how Barbie dolls will be released or whether old girls today. The girl-of-the-year boys will begin to play a larger role stories have focused on bullying, is holding up with all these changes in the company’s historical fic- to toy consumers’ expectations? achieving your goals, overcoming I’d say she’s doing pretty well. After tion line. Either way, Logan marks obstacles such as stuttering and all, Mattel purchased American Girl a transition in which girls are no embracing individuality. longer seen as the only consumers in 1998 and is responsible for the Although the company has addition of the contemporary doll grown by leaps and bounds both in of dolls. Several years ago a New York line including our new friend, Logan sales and content since its origin, Everette. 2017 will serve as a pioneering year library began circulating an Ameri- for American Girl. A male American can Girl Doll as part of their collec- ________ Girl doll, who plays a central role in tion. Borrowers of the doll would spend a week with her and return the newest girl-of-the-year story- Jennifer Costley is assistant director her with a letter about their time line, will finally be available for and youth services librarian at the purchase. together. Inspired by this idea, the Pendleton Public Library. Photo credit: Jennifer Costley By JENNIFER COSTLEY By 1986, Barbie had been the doll of choice for little girls all over America for more than 25 years. Barbie’s creator, Ruth Handler, created the doll when she noticed her young daughter preferred to give her toys adult roles when she played with them. Part of Barbie’s success was due to the fact that up until her invention dolls typically depicted little girls. It didn’t exactly stretch the imagination when play options were limited to give your dolly a bottle or change your dolly’s diaper. Handler, however, flipped the script when she introduced the first Barbie doll whose body was meant to emulate the American teenage girl; aptly, Barbie’s first ca- reer was “teenage fashion model.” Barbie has come along way since her fashion model days. Although the doll still draws sharp criti- cism for glorifying an unrealistic body image, it’s hard to deny the positive impact Barbie has had on young girls career aspirations. In the past 68 years Barbie has held 130 careers ranging from model to astronaut to first female president. Although Barbie has served as a positive role model for young wom- en, the company has yet to achieve the same goal with young men. Sure, there are male Barbie dolls but up until this point they have pri- marily served as accessories. In 1986, a new series of dolls hit the toy scene. The American Girl Company chose to go an alternate route than Barbie, featuring dolls modeled after nine-year-old girls from prominent time periods in American history. The first three dolls — Samantha, Molly and Kirsten — represented the life and experiences of young girls living
