"American Girl" Doll Petition Still Needs Signatures

I first saw Melissa Shang's Change.org petition to add a disabled “American Girl” doll back in late December. I checked in again in January, at which point the petition needed 26,000 more signatures to reach its goal. As of today, it still needs about 7,300 more.

As far as I can tell, Mattel, the “American Girl” brand’s manufacturer hasn’t committed to adding a disabled doll to its collection, although a spokesperson praised Melissa’s efforts.

I’m sure they get tons of very specific requests, since the whole point of the “American Girl” collection is to represent American girls of all kinds, from all walks of life. For that same reason, though, I don’t understand why they haven’t been more decisive about it. Maybe when Melissa’s petition reaches its 150,000 signature goal they’ll use the occasion to make an announcement.