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ParentDish Editor Debates on American Girl's Homeless Doll
Filed under: Weird But True, Media, Toys, Single Parenting, Extreme Childhood, Opinions
Who knew a doll could cause so much controversy? On this morning's "Fox & Friends," I had the chance to enter into a debate on the appropriateness of Gwen, the American Girl doll whose story includes time spent in a homeless shelter. Take a listen.
In watching the clip again, it seems to me that one of the biggest bones of contention for my formidable opponent, Dr. Janet Rose Wojtalik, was the doll's $95 price tag. Granted, it's expensive, so I called American Girl and found out that the company donates millions of dollars in clothing and books every year to help kids in distressed situations.
And finally, as our ParentDish writer Gary Drevitch wrote to me in an e-mail, "Why would we want to send the message that girls have nothing to learn from a homeless girl? What's admirable about the A.G. series is that it gives voice to girls from all over the American experience ... telling girls they should avoid the story of a girl who was briefly homeless -- that's really the wrong message."
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
9-25-2009 @ 5:18PM
Karen said...Dear God, the headline should read "White doll has brown eyes"! I think that's the first one I've seen. Too bad that even if I could afford a $95 doll for my child, I would never buy one. Also, I would be slightly more impressed with the company's charitable efforts if they just donated millions of dollars, not millions of dollars' worth of dolls and books. I don't know; the homeless theme seems exploited for an overpriced status symbol, but American Girl can and should cover the breadth of girls' experiences, which does sadly include homelessness.
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9-26-2009 @ 5:54AM
Lia said...As a woman who was in a shelter for a brief time while growing up, I think that the controversy over the doll is, to put it bluntly, stupid. I didn't grow up to be 'dependant' or 'submissive' just because I was in a homeless shelter. If anything it taught me to be more responsible and independant. I don't agree with that woman's opinion at all, and I lived through a similar experience (My father abandoning my mother)
I applaud AG for making the doll.
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9-26-2009 @ 8:35AM
Michelle said...Clearly, Dr. Rose's point is that a "doll" itself isn't going to teach young women about the very complex problem of homelessness. (I've read Dr. Janet Rose book, "The 7 Secrets of Parenting Girls", and it's amazing.)This is an issue that would require mature conversation in the home and frankly, most parents would buy the doll and never discuss it.. Parents who engage with their daughters don't need the doll in the first place to talk about this issue. The real issue here is are the parents capable of the skill set to talk to their daughters about homelessness in a real, meaningful way -- as it certainly isn't going to happen as the result of a doll.
And also -- this is Fox, so I'm sure they just asked these women to each pick a side to stir things up a bit -- they are both very intelligent and could have each made an argument for either side.
9-26-2009 @ 6:49AM
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