Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan
Book cover

Playing with America's Doll

A Cultural Analysis of the American Girl Collection

  • Book
  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Emilie Zaslow

    1. Communication Studies, Pace University, New York, USA

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Explores how complex notions of girlhood are defined by the American Girl brand
  • Discusses how feminist rhetoric has influenced marketing directed toward American women and girls
  • Explores what American Girl books and dolls communicate to girls about femininity, racial identity, ethnicity, and what it means to be an American

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction: Unpacking America’s Doll

    • Emilie Zaslow
    Pages 1-12

  3. Branding the American Girl: The Making of Cultural Icons

    • Emilie Zaslow
    Pages 13-34

  4. Situating American Girl: Tools of Socialization in a Changing Culture

    • Emilie Zaslow
    Pages 35-70

  5. “Baby Doll, You Made the World a Little Bit Better by Speaking Out for What You Believe In”: Narratives of Femininity and Political Action in the BeForever Collection

    • Emilie Zaslow
    Pages 71-104

  6. From “This Where Freedom Supposed to Be At” to “She Knew She Would Never Stop Speaking Out for What Was Right”: Racial Logics and African American Identity in American Girl

    • Emilie Zaslow
    Pages 105-135

  7. “This Is My Home”: Representing Race, Ethnicity, and the American Experience in American Girl

    • Emilie Zaslow
    Pages 137-169

  8. Conclusion: Constructing American Girlhood

    • Emilie Zaslow
    Pages 171-177

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 179-204
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

This critical account of the American Girl brand explores what its books and dolls communicate to girls about femininity, racial identity, ethnicity, and what it means to be an American. Emilie Zaslow begins by tracing the development of American Girl and situates the company’s growth and popularity in a social history of girl power media culture. She then weaves analyses of the collection’s narrative and material representations with qualitative research on mothers and girls. Examining the dolls with both a critical eye and a fan’s curiosity, Zaslow raises questions about the values espoused by this iconic American brand.

Reviews

“Attention, millennials and mothers, doll enthusiasts and political activists, scholars and students: this meticulously researched book is the first comprehensive history to unpack Girl Power’s most iconic artifacts of girls’ cultures and girlhoods from the mid-1980s to the present. Emilie Zaslow skillfully probes the paradoxes between feminism and femininity, play and politics, and commodity activism and consumer consumption embodied in the dolls, inscribed in their stories, and interpreted by players and parents. This study will contribute to a range of fields—from girls’ studies and childhood studies to women’s studies, from media studies to American studies, and book studies to dolls’ studies.” (Miriam Forman-Brunell, University of Missouri-Kansas City, USA)

“Written in a style that makes its incisive arguments accessible to any audience, the book beautifully elucidates American Girl's conflicting logics regarding race, ethnicity, gender, agency, social activism, and consumption.” (Sarah Projansky, University of Utah, USA)

 “Zaslow deftly argues how the dolls, their stories, and the industry of which they are a part are valuable tools for identity development, social justice learning, and creativity, while they simultaneously participate in the corporate structure that desires ever-expanding profit. This book is a needed reminder of the complex intersection of childhood and capitalism.” (Allison Butler, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Communication Studies, Pace University, New York, USA

    Emilie Zaslow

About the author

Emilie Zaslow is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Pace University, New York City, USA. She is the author of Feminism, Inc.: Coming of Age in Girl Power Media Culture (2009).

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Playing with America's Doll

  • Book Subtitle: A Cultural Analysis of the American Girl Collection

  • Authors: Emilie Zaslow

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56649-2

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-56648-5Published: 15 August 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-93655-7Published: 17 July 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-56649-2Published: 14 August 2017

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 204

  • Number of Illustrations: 8 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Childhood, Adolescence and Society, Gender and Sexuality, Feminism

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation