American Girl's Newest Doll is Homeless

Well that's a bummer of a story! I know American Girl is supposed to teach girls how to rise above their situations in life and make the best of who they are, but I can't see a homeless child being able to afford $95.00 for the doll. That teaches our girls to stereotype the homeless into one category and that is wrong. The Homeless have many stories and come from many backgrounds. There are many veterans, elderly, even some who come from affluent homes like the girls who will own the dolls. They should know that; know all of their stories and just how easy it is to find yourself on the streets these days, then they should be teaching them how they can help make things better for these people and how to change things so that there are less that are homeless in the future. Now that would be a doll worth it's price.

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You know...you don't have to buy the doll. I read all the the American Girl books as a girl. And I loved them. They all have a lesson to be learned. I never had a doll, because they are way overpriced--homeless or not--but that doesn't mean I didn't get anything from the books.

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If the money from profits of the doll went to the homeless, I would purchase the doll for that reason only.

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how th eheck do you et your comment ont his hting?

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This whole thing is a lot of bull. Moneyed people are clueless about the plight homeless. They will spend thousands of dollars on stupid dolls, so the company can make them spend even more money on the clothes. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said ' The indigent of the world could be clothed in the trimmings of the vain".

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Horrible. overpriced crap, and making a profit at the expense of the unfortunate. instead of buying this piece of plastic trash....give the cash to a shelter. this company is ONLY looking to profit

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Does anyone remember the "Little Miss No Name" doll? My daughter Loved this doll! Little "mom's" love having someone who needs them and to take care of.

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The value of toys is letting the child play and use their own imagination. Their imagination can make their doll into a princess, a homeless girl, a super woman, a model, a mother, a fairy, a cinderella, a president, whatever. Give them the script and you won't be giving much.

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perfect for the times we live in, cant wait until they make the foreclosure family doll at a 9.9 percentage tax, comes in all colors white black, yellow, brown, red, green, blue and tan, america is still failing, i cant wait until more million dollar corporations crash and burn this year, but atleast the obamas have a nice family dog and michelle has some new shoes to go with that nice 500 dollar dress, fascist tools deserves to fail, cant wait for the revolution!!!!!

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QUOTING:
Pamela Latham 9-25-2009 @ 10:13AM
Not all homeless people are dirty and dressed in rags.You've obviously never been to a homeless shelter.The doll is not the main character in the storyline,just a friend.I knew of such a family who lived out of their car.As far as donations c'mon were talking about the crass commercialism of Mattel who have owned the American Girls franchise since the early part of this decade.Sweet, backstabbing, money grubbing,Mattel,who keeps telling white children they should be ashamed of their skin color and must get tanned to appease people of color.When was the last time you saw a Mattel doll that didn't have some form of tan.Jealous,vicious, Mattel, who couldn't stand the competition from the BRATZ,which of course they now own. Jealous money hungry Mattel, who didn't like the fact that a Hebrew company was marketing a American Girl type doll specifically for Hebrew children,which is why they got rid of Samantha. I no longer buy Mattel anything.Probably never will again.



The newest AG doll is a Jewish girl named Rebecca Rubin. Maybe you need to check your facts.

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Husband worked 30 years in auto parts sales.. Was let go last month and told we have no health insurance. I don't make enough money to pay for the housepayment and now we are pleading with the bank to help us stay in our home. They are a small bank that aren't in with the Obama plan. Detroit area has sunk to new lows but this doll tops it all. What a disgrace to families like ours that are hard working blue collar people being forced into the streets. Nobody is going to rent to us with our income and we've owned homes for the last 25 years! This is a living nightmare. We have to go bankrupt to survive and it was against all our morals but we are trying to save our home and had no choice. We drive older cars, don't have big ticket items or luxruy things. We need jobs to come to the Detroit area and fast and this company has the nerve to put out a doll like this? What a shame that someone actually allowed this doll into production. This is in VERY BAD TASTE!

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I think its great teaching kids that nothing come for free and you have to work hard to get what u want in life.Also that not everyone has the same stuff and you should never take what u have for granted your life can change at any moment.Yes I have five kids and I never lie to them I always tell them the truth because you have to teach your kids its hard out there at a young age so by the time there grown thay will know whats up.And for them people that make everything seem like its easy and not teaching them about what is really going on in the world well I think that is just sorry.

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Are the proceeds from this $95 "homeless" doll going to help the actual homeless anywhere in this country? That is the only way I would buy this doll for any child as that is a true lesson to teach.

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I agree with Linda. This is a wonderful opportunity to teach
girls about caring for someone less fortunate than themselves.
This doll will do a lot more toward teaching a girl compassion
than the Barbies of old.

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I happen to be a 51 year old female and an accounting professional of over 25 years. After being out of work for darn near the first time in my life for over a year I lost my home a month ago. With it I also lost over 70 grand invested in that home. I had less then 1000 in the bank but I paid some guys who were desperate enough for the money to move all of my things into a cheap storage unit (less then 40 a month) and I have been sleeping in a few old apartment places that are no longer open. I have my motorcycle but that's all that I have. I go to see my friends on the weekends and sit and drink water while they all have dinner. No one knows any of this. No one knows I have no place to live, no one knows I wash my hair and wash up in gas station bathrooms. No one knows I alternate three pairs of jeans/socks and tops while washing ones that are dirty and letting them dry when I bundle them up on the back of my bike. No one knows while I sit out on this patio that I am using the wireless connection here with my laptop, also one of the few things I still have left.

This doll is disgusting totally.

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Usually, when a term is used, it carries the most distinguishing characteristics that it is associated with. In this case, the term "homeless" is associated with unkempt individuals, dressed in rags, with cartons advertising a specific "need" and else. I do not argue with those that seem to have a different opinion about the homeless, nor I challenge the fact, that there may be some individuals that may be experiencing a "homeless" situation due to some extenuating circumstance. But the reality is that most homeless individuals fall into the first category. Now, there is a cause to that. I had read a few months back, a very interesting article about the homeless. It stated that most of these individuals have some sort of mental ailment ranging from chronic depression all the way to schizophrenia. A study conducted in London, proved this theory to be correct when 150 homeless individuals were picked up from the street, taken into a shelter, submitted to a psychiatric evaluation, treated with the respective medication and else. After 6 months, over 65% were able to have a different outlook towards life and felt capable of going to work.
Now, that is food for thought.

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Back in the 80's i was a widow with 6 kids , times were tough.I made a decision to camp out all summer. IT SAVED MONEY! The kids had a blast! I saved enough to put us in a better house and neighborhood.The only drawback was a lady who showed up at the campground telling me that I had better have a house before the end of summer or she would see to it that my kids would be taken away. Why do people think of Homeless people as idiots? It is not "fun" being homeless, thank God for all the shelters and help there is in this day and time!!! Mary

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Gene, How could it be that homeless conditions are so bad in San Francisco, home of Nancy Pelosi ? I'm sure that if someone would only tell her she would have it fixed in a heartbeat.

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I don't understand why people think this is a bad idea. I think it could teach children a very valuable lesson. This shows kids not everyone is as fortunate as they are, and to be thankful for what they do have. And who knows, maybe it'll inspire them to actually care what happens to those less fortunate people. Or maybe after reading the book they'll want to aspire to be successful so they don't have to live like she did. I think parents don't like this doll because they think it gives the message that being homeless is "okay". I'll admit, I wanted to be like Samantha (my AG doll), but she had awesome adventures and wore pretty dresses, so... Don't take my word for it.

The price is outrageous as all goodness though. I'm pretty sure my American Girl doll wasn't that much. But I also got mine quite a few years ago, so maybe that's why.

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