Article on Lack of Asian American AGOT

Thanks for posting it here. Interesting article. I've been waiting for an Asian historical for over 10 years. I'll buy her as soon as she's available.

""The historical dolls have their own stories, and they teach good things," says Lianne, a sixth-grader at Leonardo da Vinci School. "But it bothers me that none of those dolls looks Chinese. They sort of show off Caucasian culture and not anything different."

We all know this isn't true. I get what they mean, but it's simply not true. I think Jess looks slightly Asian, but can see why an Asian family would feel slighted when they've been pushing for an Asian historical for years, but instead get a doll that looks a little bit Asian, and in the LE line. The doll's going to vanish in December, and there'll be, once again, only 1 Asian doll in the entire American Girl collection.

"But where's the Chinese American doll with the story line set in San Francisco at the turn of the century? Or the Japanese American doll? Or the Vietnamese American doll?"

I think this is a large part of why AG hasn't yet commited to an Asian historical. Which culture to go with? They're all VERY different. Unless the girl had a Japanese father and Chinese mother, it would be quite hard to please even half of the people who want an Asian doll. However, it would be easy enough to give her facial features that could "double" as any of Asian cultures, so I don't think that's a very good excuse.

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Originally posted by only1genevieve:

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> As a new mother, she learned the importance of including her children's ethnic background in family life - because race matters. And children notice race even if adults like to pretend not to.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't get this - aren't we supposed to be teaching our children that race DOESN'T matter? How you LOOK should make NO difference.[/QB]</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think that by saying "race matters," the article is merely saying that a child's cultural/ethnic background is an important part of their life and should not be ignored. Even though we can say that racial differences do not matter, knowing where you come from and the history of your culture is important to your sense of identity. I think that part of the article was trying to say, especially about adopted children, that we should not ignore those children's race/ethnicity and pretend no difference exists, but rather, we should celebrate the child's background and make an effort to teach the child about where they came from.

I do think AG should introduce an Asian historical. I'm glad they came out with Jess, but I think there is a difference between a one-book, limited edition Asian doll and a full-fledged, six book, full collection historical Asian doll. There's such a variety of Asian cultures to choose from and so much that could be done with an Asian historical collection. No, AG can't make a historical doll for every single ethnicity in the world, but Asians are a pretty significant group that I feel should definitely be represented in the historical collection. I hope there is one in production that will be released after AG gets off their "Friend Doll" kick. It is sort of interesting that the reaction to Jess in that article is that she "doesn't look Asian enough." I wonder if they are happy with the look of AGT 4? I thought it was pretty clear that Jess is Asian...I don't see Hispanic or Native American. [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

Could be a case too, (like the member who posted the other day about people wanting to form a protest about Addy being a slave), of too many someones not educating themselves first about AG before complaining. That, and comments in articles like this get paraphrased and taken out of context, then reprinted so many times, that by the time we get to read them, the original intent may be lost. I can see the arguement for Asians to be the next big group to be represented in the AG historical line, but will not be surprised at all when the doll finally comes out, to hear yet another ethnic group bemoaning their lack of significant representation.

Ok, I may be stirring up the pot, but I have to agree that I don't think Jess is Asian looking. She is biracial--which is lots different than 100% Asian. As as a matter of opinion, I really think AG could have done a lot better on the Asian AGOT in terms of authenticity of appearance. I think Taffy has agreed with me on this in the past.

And race does matter--my daughters are ethnically Chinese, and we live in a small town in Texas. My daughters, although proud they are from China, suffer being picked on because of it. Those of us with adopted Chinese children would really like an Asian historical to show our children (and their friends) that their ethniticity was just as important to the development of this country as caucasians, indians, african americans, etc. My girls both do have an Asian AGOT, but they really love the "history" aspect of the historicals.

Linda

I think what we have here is a difference in how we percieve the words "race" and "culture." Maybe the mom in the article meant to say culture and not race.

For instance, I think of race as meaning skin, eye color, etc. Whereas I see culture as your ethnic background--customs, traditions, history, etc. Linda - I definitely agree with your reasons for wanting another doll. I'd like to see another Asian doll because I feel that the Asian cultural/historical contribution to US history is being neglected. However, I also see the point someone else brought up: Would you feature Chinese-American, Japanese-American, Korean-American?

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Originally posted by only1genevieve:
Would you feature Chinese-American, Japanese-American, Korean-American?

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Great point! Maybe that is the challenge AG is facing. It's that old adage of no matter which one you choose, it won't be right. Can you blame them for holding back when the stakes are potentially so high?

<font color="#33CCCC" size="1">[ March 25, 2006 02:49 PM: Message edited by: JenniferRobin ]</font>

I certainly can't speak for everyone in this situation, but as a parent of Chinese children, I would be thrilled to see an Asian historical AG, no matter what her heritage.

Linda

I would love to see a historical Asian doll. Or at least until then another permanent AGOT, maybe a bangless one, with black hair. That would be so cute!
I can see the point with Jess. I was all gung ho that she would look more Asian, instead she's chipminked cheeked. If I was Asian I would be disapointed. Though she doesn'l look Native Amercian at all! Nor hispanic. [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

Even if race shouldn't matter, that's no excuse to say, race doesn't matter, we're all the same. And then not worry about having a doll that looks like your heritage. bUt that's just my opinion. I would be terribly frustarted. They are such neat dolls, that it's a shame that such a wonderful group of peopel who have a rich heritage, have no doll to represent them. Of course, also I have a soft place for #4, owning 4, I would love to get them some cousins. [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img]

I have also been wanting an Asian American historical doll for years. When Josefina was introduced, I was positive the next historical would be Asian American.

As far as the difficulty of deciding exactly which Asian culture on which to base the doll - wouldn't AG have experienced the same issues with Kaya? She only represents one tribe of American Indian and I think most people were just really excited to have an American Indian doll.

AG's response concerning concentrating on the "Friends" line pretty much confirms our speculation. There probably won't be a new historical for quite a while.

Lord of the Pumpkin Patch - I love Jess's "chipmunk" cheeks! Have you had the opportunity to see a real Jess yet? I can just see her as one of your boys.

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Originally posted by simplepretty:
This is how I see it: American Girl can't just crank out new historicals. Each one takes a long time to develop. They havebeen consistantly trying to incorporate more and more cultures and ethnicities. They have two dolls with Asian background (Jess and AG4). I am sure they will have an Asian historical in the future. I think it will be cool. My first cousins are Vietnamese, and I do think that Jess has similar characteristics to them. I am not trying to be brash about this, but I feel like sometimes people don't consider how importatnt it is to have a well-researched, well-put together doll. I wouldn't want AG to start cranking out cheapy dolls really quickly just to meet demands from every racial group in America. I can understand wanting a doll with a similar background, but still. There are no dolls that look even similar to me. There are no true red-heads either. There are no Northeastern coastal girls, or logging families. No doll's dad works in a paper mill and no character has five siblings. I can understand where they are coming from, but I wish people would be patient. Sorry for getting so passionate about this.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Couldn't agree more!