The American Girls Revue
It’s even easier to feel cynical while shopping the glittering urban mall of Michigan Avenue, the most expensive mile in town. There’s no haven from the relentlessly alluring portable luxury displayed in every shop window. Pre-Christmas crowds this year included the usual mix of customers, gawkers, and beggars. But among them were a few new faces: well-scrubbed little girls in velveteen dresses and shiny patent leather shoes on their way to American Girl Place on Chicago Avenue to see a play, have a pricey tea party, and ogle American Girl dolls, accessories, and books.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
I expected nothing more from The American Girls Revue than an upscale human version of Disneyland’s Country Bear Jamboree, despite the impressive credits of the director (Chicago’s Kim Rubenstein) and the playwright-composer team (Broadway notables Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford). After all, toy and memorabilia manufacturers like Disney have used musical theater to market their goods for generations. Audiences who see The Lion King on Broadway must exit the theater through a gift shop. And Saturday-morning TV is full of cartoons that are mostly advertisements for action figures and other dolls. The innovation promised by American Girl Place was that the stories, based on the company’s well-written series of books about American girls throughout history, could be empowering to a group of young consumers pummeled with Barbie propaganda.
Children and parents in the audience sing along: “I can be brave, I can be true, I will do the best that I can do. And I can dream, I can dare, I can keep on trying if I really care. If I reach out, I can belong, I can be a friend, lend a helping hand so strong. I’ll sing with my own voice, the voice inside of me. And I will be the best that I can be.” Sounds a little hokey, I know, but I was surprised how moved I was by this affirmation of girlhood, a reflection of the freedom the feminist movement offered me when I was in college. Unfortunately that kind of affirmation is still a rarity, despite the changes that have freed women to make more choices in our lives–just a few years ago, a talking Barbie would happily announce, “Math is hard!” or “Let’s go shopping!”
It’s ironic that the marketing of feminist ideas for girls should have the same limitations as the feminist movement itself. Although the dolls are multicultural, the class that can afford them–and the audience for the play–is primarily white, just like the feminist movement of the 1970s that paved the way for this product line. The middle and upper classes can embrace the American Girl affirmation, “I will be the best that I can be,” with confidence, knowing that the bright future promised by the anthem is within reach. Feminism has mostly helped a privileged class of women. And they know that any risk in living up to the brave promise of the anthem will be offset by money, education, and access to power–a buffer that American Girl consumers celebrate with their purchases.
