The Homely Doll

One of the real pleasures of New York City is that you can buy a copy of the satiric newspaper, The Onion, out of a newspaper box.   Sometimes laughing out loud, I thread my way through Manhattan’s streets, attempting not to walk into other people, their dogs and / or an occasional cab.

Imagine my delight when I saw this headline: “New Homely Doll To Improve Young Girls’ Self-Image.” According to the article, the doll will be called “Plain Pamela,” and “…is designed to boost the confidence of girls ages 7 to 12.” She’s described as “…drab, dumpy…[and] nothing to write home about.” The doll says things like: “That’s okay; you can go out and have fun without me.”

The truly funny thing about the article was that it started me thinking that there is probably a market for a doll that is average looking. In a world in which just about every doll is cute or beautiful, it would probably stand out on the shelf. After all, Raggedy Ann did pretty well there for a while. “Plain Pamela” anyone?