This week we cast our vote for our favorite American Girl Doll. Considering this was every girl’s dream/life in the 90s, we understand how controversial this topic is. We take this very seriously.
Sup, I'm Sam.
Sam’s Pick: Samantha Parkington
I mean, really, was there ever a question? Besides having the best name, she is a BAMF. Ready? Here we go: First off, she’s an orphan being raised by her grandmother (along with random visits by her uncle and his new wife). Her parents died in a boating accident when she was five, and she carries their pictures around in a locket (aww). I mean, that’s got to be hard. Second, she befriends her neighbor’s servant girl, Nellie, and Nellie becomes her best friend. Like, girl’s not bratty. She even teaches her how to read, and saves her from factory work. (She later is adopted by her Uncle, along with Nellie and her sisters. BAM. She just got that girl an upgrade in life, whattup). Third, she may have grown up in the Edwardian Era (read: dresses and stockings), but she climbs trees, sneaks off (shame!) and gets into fights with the neighbor boy, Eddie. She’s so cool.
She either wants to be a painter or the first female US President. Yes, you read that right, PRESIDENT. Girl’s gonna run things. Progressive! She believes in women’s rights and marches with her aunt in the suffrage movement. (So, just to recap: she takes on class injustice and then champions women’s rights.) HONESTLY DO I NEED TO GO ON? Samantha’s got my vote.
Sweet beret
Sarah’s Pick: Molly McIntire
American Girl dolls are a touchy subject for me. First, my parents never bought me one so I felt really left out. I wanted one so badly. Second, don’t even get me started on my frustration that they don’t have an Asian one. Let’s see, they have a Native American, a Hispanic and an African American. Where’s the Chinese girl at? Yeah, that’s lame.
But you know what? Even though I didn’t identify racially with any of these dolls, I still devoured the books. My favorite was Molly. She grew up during World War II and her doctor dad was away from home working in the U.S. Medical Corps. Now, I’m not sure why I liked her so much because she was kind of the dorky one. But we were kindred spirits: we both wore geeky glasses, we were attention-seekers and we talked A LOT, we were obsessed with dressing up and we were both really bad at math. Pretty much soul mates. She was kind of mischievous and broke the rules sometimes, like remember when she wouldn’t eat her turnips at dinner and her mean babysitter wouldn’t let her leave the table? How rude. Plus, Molly got a dog for her birthday. It was a Jack Russell terrier (cute!) and she named him Bennett. I love dogs, so that’s a big win in my book.
