The purpose of this study was to explore an example of girls' doll play in contemporary US culture, including its virtual, political, marketing, and other contextual meanings. The narrative that provoked the analysis was a brief news report about a controversial school function--a school fund-raiser fashion show featuring American Girl doll…

Studying imagery, irrespective of the kind, must focus equally upon its aesthetic attractiveness, its sensory lures, and its oftentimes dubious social ideology. The terms "aesthetic" and "ideology" are addressed as problematic and are defined in current, ordinary language terms: aesthetics as visual appearances and their effects and ideology as a…