An American Girl anthology : finding ourselves in the Pleasant Company universe / edited by Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler and KC Hysmith.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Orlovsky-Schnitzler, Justine, editor.

Hysmith, K. C. (Katherine C.), editor.

Series:

Cultures of childhood

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pleasant Company.

American Girl (Firm).

American Girl dolls--History.

American Girl dolls.

American Girl dolls--Social aspects.

Character dolls--United States.

Character dolls.

Dollmakers--United States.

Dollmakers.

Girls--United States--Social conditions.

Girls.

Physical Description:

xxii, 246 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2025]

Summary:

"An American Girl Anthology: Finding Ourselves in the Pleasant Company Universe turns American Girl dolls-and the ever-growing ecosystem surrounding them-inside out. Editors Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler and KC Hysmith, along with an expansive list of contributors across multiple disciplines and within different research areas, explore Pleasant Company (American Girl's parent corporation) and the social and cultural impact the dolls and broader American Girl universe continue to have for generations of American consumers through thoughtful and fun essays. This collection serves as an ode to the democratizing power of the internet and the intoxicating power of nostalgia, while also looking toward the future as the eldest American Girl fans become parents themselves. It is also a critical account of the ways in which American Girl has shaped senses of self-worth and hopes for the future, securing a base of lifelong consumers, and also serves as a love letter to the kids we collectively used to be. Along the way, readers will take seriously American Girl's influence and place within larger cultural conversations. They will find essays focusing on topics as diverse as food and historical recipes in American Girl publications, the advent of "tag yourself" memes, the struggle to find authentic and long-lasting Asian American representation within the pages of the American Girl catalog, and the enduring power of The Care and Keeping of You as a resource for finding joy in our bodies"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

List of abbreviations and American Girl timeline

Introduction: the making of an American Girl universe / Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler and KC Hysmith

Part 1: Consuming American Girl

Breeches, silks, and flowered hats: aspirational clothing, sartorial labor, and Mattel's American Girl brand / Abigail C. Fine

"Eating breakfast like it's 1774": American Girl cookbooks, gender, and identity-making through food history / KC Hysmith and Esther Martin

Places, parties, and purchases: creativity and/against consumerism in the American Girl experience / Juliette Holder

Part 2: Who gets to be an American Girl?

Where is my disability community? A comparative close reading of children's historical fiction / Marissa J. Spear

How the Irish (doll) became white: the Nellie O'Malley AG story arc / Mary M. Burke

Belonging and indigeneity in the American Girl universe / Sheena Roetman-Wynn

Ivy Ling, Corinne Tan, and Chinese American misrepresentation in American Girl / Mackenzie Kwok

Caught between "Jewish" and "American": Rebecca Rubin and the Americanization of the Jewish immigrant experience / Samantha Pickette

Part 3: American Girl teaches a lesson

"Nothing but each other and hope": Addy and the Black feminist tradition / Cary Tide

Teaching girl(')s history: American girls, curricular standards, and historians / Tara Strauch

As American (Girl) as Girl Scout cookies / Janine B. Napierkowski

The care and keeping of me: a moment, a year, a book, and returning home to our changing bodies, again and again / Hannah Matthews

"Selfish or annoying": etiquette, gender, and race in "Oops! The manners guide for girls" / Mary Berman

Part 4: Making American Girl our own

"Maybe I could be part of the story too: making meaning and understanding American Jewish identity through American Girl / Rebekkah Rubin

Interpreting, imagining, and inventing queer pasts and futures through American Girl / Laura Traister

An inteview with the creators of the "Hellicity Merriman" meme account / Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler

Conclusion: American Girls forever / Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler and KC Hysmith

Acknowledgments

About the contributors

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: American girl anthology

ISBN:

9781496849700

1496849701

9781496858061

1496858069

OCLC:

1500647492