Ode to American Girl Magazine

The 90s to mid-2000s was the worst time to be a pubescent girl. I will always say this. Every generation has had their share of troubles and angst that is unique to them, don't get me wrong. But the pressure girls from my generation faced, was absolutely abominable. If you want to know why a good majority of millennial women have such poor physical self-esteem, it's because we started to hit puberty right at the height of "heroin chic" and diet culture being shoved down our throats from an early age.

This isn't meant to bash anyone who is naturally skinny, of course. But when you're still growing--that means weight gain and chub is often inevitable for most. So having magazines, television ads, kids at school, and sometimes even one's own parents--tell you you're going to be completely undesirable if you have even a centimeter of fat on you--is not great.

If you were a girl growing up during these times, then you probably had--or at least knew of someone who had--some kind of eating disorder or body dysmorphia. When you want to be accepted by your peers, you want to have "the look." And in these times, having "the look" meant not having any body fat.

A lot of publications for pubescent girls leaned in to the superficial aspects of growing up at the time. Not necessarily the diet culture, but the "how to be cool" aspect. How to fake your own personality to get people to like you. How to dress cool. How to talk cool. How to get your crush to notice you. Stuff that, to a developing mind and body, could still be very toxic--even if that wasn't necessarily the intent.

I was 11 in 2004. I started getting acne earlier than most of my peers, I was gaining weight, boys in my gym class always said I was fat and ugly. I became very conscious of my body and started looking for what I didn't like about it. I wanted to be prettier and skinnier and cooler. If I didn't have American Girl magazine and books--I may have self-destructed.

American Girl magazine was one of the only magazines for girls at the time, that didn't focus on things like this. Rather it taught you how to be a good friend, a good neighbor, a good family member, a good person. While other publications put emphasis on physical beauty, American Girl magazine encouraged girls to look for what they loved about themselves, and find what makes them special. They didn't tell you "how to be cool" but rather told you to just be yourself.

American Girl has had a wild evolution. It began in 1986 as a collection of dolls with corresponding literature and backstories tied to them. These dolls' stories all came from different different time periods, ethnicities, social classes, religious views, and family backgrounds. But they all had one thing in common: They were girls growing up in America, and trying to make a difference in their community. No emphasis was placed on their looks, but on their achievements.

With the success of the dolls, American Girl launched their first magazine in 1993. The magazine was for preteen girls, and didn't talk much--if at all--about fashion or the latest trends. Because, let's face it, preteens are still children. They don't need to worry about those things yet. Yes, they need to start learning about the world around them. But they still also need to have fun and enjoy being a kid.

American Girl magazine was a staple for me, growing up. The bright illustrations, and the way it talked to me, instead of down on me; made it such a fun magazine to read. I read each issue I got from cover to cover until the pages started showing noticeable wear. I was always eagerly awaiting my next issue. When I received it in the mail, it was like Christmas. It inspired me to want to start writing more and more, in the hopes that I could someday write something so fun and entertaining.

American Girl magazine sadly ended its 26 year run in 2019. But girls who grew up reading it still remember it, and the lessons it taught, fondly.

When you Google American Girl magazine, despite being discontinued, people who read it still seem to laud it with positive reviews. People who didn't read it when they were younger, but managed to get ahold of older issues, say they wished they'd had it when growing up. Parents of girls who read it, have many positive things to say about how it helped empower their girls and teach them important lessons about life, in a way that they would absorb.

After its demise in 2019, there still hasn't been any magazine quite like it for girls nowadays. But there really should be. Now more than ever, I would argue. Nowadays, where practically everything is an ad, geared to make us feel like we're failing at life if we aren't up on the latest trends--Young, impressionable girls need a publication that will tell them to just be themselves, and not worry about things that won't matter two weeks from now. Perhaps there are indie publications of this sort, but nothing mainstream--at least that I have seen.

But, fear not! If you didn't grow up with American Girl, or threw out your old issues, you can still find the whole back catalog of scans online for free--uploaded generously by Tumblr user, agheaven.

So go ahead and take a trip down memory lane, or bookmark that page so you can show it to your girls someday. American Girl magazine must be preserved at all costs! If not for nostalgia, then for girls who need it now.