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Full-Text Articles in Cultural History
“Not One Looks Like My Daughter!”: How American Girl Makes History Hegemony, Nicole Laconte
“Not One Looks Like My Daughter!”: How American Girl Makes History Hegemony, Nicole Laconte
History Honors Papers
American Girl markets dolls and books toward girls. Their original product line, which features historical characters, mobilizes history to teach moral lessons. This paper breaks down these morals to search for hegemony, a discourse that marginalizes minority readers. In this quest to uncover hegemony, the paper deals with issues of narrative perspective and socialization. Regarding narrative perspective, the paper asks, “Whom do these books deem normal in America? Whom do these books deem other in America?” Regarding socialization issues, this paper asks, “What value and behaviors do these books condone as part of acceptable American Girlhood? What values and behaviors …