¿La muñeca más estúpidas de todos los tiempos?
By: Keith
Recientemente fue traída a mi atención la existencia de la línea de muñecas Niñas Americanas de los juguetes de Mattel por un amigo mío blogador en Clark Kent’s Lunchbox. Yo debo estar terriblemente fuera de moda porque aparentemente estas muñecas son la gran novedad estos días. También existe una controversia relacionada con una de sus más recientes creaciones, se trata de una muñeca llamada Gwen, cuya historia incluye a un padre inútil, una madre desempleada, y eventualmente la caída en la destitución y pobreza. Yo fui a ver los otros personajes de la colección de muñecas Americanas y encontré que el resto de los personajes parecen ser excelentes productos. Es triste que Gwen haya sido creada de mala manera y con resentimiento hacia la mayoría de los padres quienes verdaderamente se salen hacen hasta lo imposible para mantener a sus hijos. Mi problema con esta muñeca no es que sea pobre y destituida, es el que sea representada de esta manera a consecuencia de un mal hombre. Estas muñecas han sido creadas obviamente para niñas pequeñas; ¿qué mensaje les está dando cuando les dice que la causa de todos los problemas que tendrán en su vida invariablemente va a ser hombres?
Lo malo
1. $95. ¡Esta muñeca cuesta 95 dólares! Representa a una niña pobre y destituida y cuesta casi 100 dólares. Yo no soy el único que ve la ironía en este caso. ¿Qué acaso no hubieran podido ellos donar una porción de las ganancias a verdaderas personas pobres y destituidas? Y, las personas que compran esta muñeca no han de darse cuenta qué tan diferente es para las personas destituidas que para el resto de nosotros. Si yo quisiera enseñarles a mis hijos acerca de lo que es la pobreza y no tener un hogar ciertamente no me estaría gastando 100 dólares en un cachivache educativo. Probablemente me haría voluntario en un comedor popular y me llevaría a mis hijos conmigo para que vieran de qué se trata. Eso no cuesta nada, los niños aprenden una lección, y verdaderamente ayudamos a otras personas. Es una idea noble.
2. ¿Un Padre Irresponsable? ¿En serio? Yo haría cualquier cosa por mis hijos, cualquier cosa. Yo soy un padre típico porque casi todos los padres, de la misma manera que casi todas las madres, harían cualquier cosa por ver a sus hijos crecer sanos y felices. Yo estoy un tanto cansado de la indoctrinación política que esta envolviendo a la muñeca Gwen y muchos otros golpes bajos contra los padres. El mensaje es claro. Los hombres son una escoria y tarde o temprano te van a abandonar. Las niñas a las que les compran estas muñecas tienen entre 4 y 6 años de edad (aunque la edad recomendada en la caja es 8 años). ¿Cuando estas niñas van a dormir cada noche van a estar asustadas creyendo que van a despertar al siguiente día sin papá porque él simplemente decidió dejarles? Este no sería un temor ridículo considerando lo que se les ha dicho.
Lo bueno
1. La idea de la línea de Niñas Americanas es verdaderamente buena. Estas son muñecas que vienen con pequeños libros que supuestamente les enseñan a las niñas acerca de las experiencias americanas únicas a través de los ojos de otras niñas. Hay historias acerca de esclavas fugitivas, vaqueras, arqueólogas, y hasta patinadoras. La lista de modelos positivos es larga. Yo no tengo hijas pero si tuviera una, yo estaría contento leyéndole la mayoría de estas historias.
2. Es una alternativa a las Barbies. Barbie está bien, creo. Pero ya tiene 50 años; sería bueno tener otra buena alternativa. Además del argumento acerca de la imagen física que representa, yo creo que Barbie se está haciendo añeja. La línea de muñecas Americanas parece estar dirigida a un mercado creciente, muñecas con consciencia. Donde con Barbie se trata de divertirse en la playa y salir con Ken, las muñecas Americanas tratan de enseñar algo mientras que al mismo tiempo son un juguete con el que las niñas pueden jugar. Yo creo que es una buena idea. Oh, y las muñecas de Bratz se pasan de estúpidas. No son más que unas muñecas que se ven vacías y consentidas que no enseñan nadad y se ven más bobas que nada.
¿Boicot?
Yo no boicoteo nada. Yo no creo en boicotear a compañías. Primeramente porque el boicoteo raramente funciona. Ya sea que la compañía saque el dinero de la circulación dañando con esto a todos los negocios, o simplemente reutilizan el dinero en otro tipo de producto igualmente malo. La economía del boicoteo va más allá de simplemente quitarles las ganancias a una compañía con la que no estás de acuerdo. El sistema de mercado libre provee una mejor medio de boicoteo con la compra o no compra de productos específicos. No hay necesidad de boicotear a toda la compañía. Yo no estoy llamando a un boicot en contra de la compañía de Juguetes Mattel. Simplemente estoy diciendo que ellos hicieron una mala decisión con esta muñeca Gwen. Mis razones ya han sido establecidas y así lo voy a dejar.
No related posts.
Never heard of this Gwen doll….it looks like it should be marketed towards adults. Or the American Girl doll creator has some serious issues at home. The other ones are so cool (and super expensive).
We buy the cheap look-alikes.
My girls have read the books and they have learned about history from some of them. For instance, they learned about victory gardens, the depression, WW II, and some Mexican history from the Josefina story. I think people need to realize there are getting to be just as many deadbeat moms in today’s society as there are deadbeat dads. I know of children who are being raised by their daddy and have not seen their mom in 2 years .. have not heard from her in almost a year. I think my issue with Gwen would be more along the lines of letting girls think that if a man does leave, that the mom cannot find the strength the pick herself up by the bootstraps and do whatever it takes to maintain stability for her child or children. I guess I am more concerned about how girls will view women than how they will view men as a result of reading something like this! Thanks for another thought provoking read Keith!
Having a 10-year old daughter, we’re big fans of American Girl products at my house. My daughter has several of the book series and one of the dolls (Kit, which she got for Christmas last year). I hadn’t heard anything about the Gwen doll, but she is apparently a supporting character in the “Girl of the Year” Chrissa’s story; my daughter is more interested in the historical dolls. This does seem a bit of an odd story line, but AG also seems to have handled it well from what I can tell. Characters in the Kit stories (which take place during the Great Depression) also lost their homes, so this is not completely a new concept for AG. Perhaps, as you mention, the “no-good man” angle is not so great, but AG also gave their most recent historical doll the same name as a wanted domestic terrorist…so maybe they need a little more work in their r&d dept. Still, I agree with you regarding company boycotts not working and, the fact is, as I mentioned before this doll is part of the “Girl of the Year” series and won’t be available in 2.5 months.
I totally agree, Angie. They don’t have any business marketing this to little girls. It’s completely antithetical to what I would want to teach my kids about human nature.
Joan. I was going to say something like that too but decided I didn’t have the space. Why is it particularly the man who seems to get the bad rap? And even considering that it is why then are gwen and her mom completely helpless? First they say men are no good, then they say they’re no good, but you need them. Duh — that’s stupid.
Erica. Thanks for the comment. I appreciate the visit. The fact that this is a limited edition doll does not make it any more acceptable. I think it goes beyond being a bit odd. I think it’s cynical and mean. Also, like I said, I am not against the concept of a homeless doll. I am against the concept of a homeless doll who’s problems are all caused by a rotten man and who’s mother is portrayed as some sort of a saint at the same time. Cynical. I just don’t see it as an innocuous mistake, but rather an attempt at feminist indoctrination (but a poor attempt for the reasons Joan mentioned). Perhaps the insult would take on a different level of intensity if, instead of having the man play the bad-guy, they had decided to portray the mother as an alcoholic who turned to prostitution who neglected Gwen while the father tried to improve their lives by taking a job washing dishes at a Vietnamese restaurant. I bet the mom bloggers out there would really sink their teeth into that, and rightfully so.
At first, I didn’t give the Gwen subplot much thought when we rented Chrissa’s Story from Netflix. We focused on the “Bully” issues since it hit home with my eldest daughter. But it was my husband who pointed out the same arguments regarding Gwen’s family history. YES there are horrible fathers out there…but there are also horrible mothers as well. To him, it was a slap in the face. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see AG address that point?
On a slightly different note, we don’t have any AG dolls in this house. $95 is just the base price for the starter kit. The accessories are super pricey too. I have two little girls…um….thanks Mattel Toys- but we’ll take a pass on this one. My girls don’t need a $95 AG doll to grasp the social complexities of their generation. As a loving parent, their father does a fantastic job teaching them these important life lessons. (Sorry Keith..LOL! I couldn’t resist the snark here. Great article.)
.-= Denise´s last blog ..Not For You =-.
Denise, I just recently discovered how expensive all these different dolls can be. Even Barbie isn’t cheap. I think it’s interesting how certain things just apply more to some people than others. I think you make a good point about your husband naturally taking more notice of the insult with the Gwen doll. There are certain things that I don’t think of twice but that my wife takes great offense to, and that’s simply because we look at things from a different perspective. Makes sense. I think though that, once the insult is revealed to all, it becomes an insult to everyone’s intelligence. Men, especially those who spend a lot of time with their kids, are particularly sensitive to the continued portrayal of men as scum.
Hey! no problem on the snark. I’ve got that flowing through me in abundance myself
.-= Keith Wilcox´s last blog ..Stupidest Doll Ever? =-.
All I can see in this dolls is to provide some fears in our little ones. Fears to loose a parent, to not be so cool enough(barbie), plus we paid a $100 for it. Go figure it!
Isa, you are right. That’s the same feeling I had. It serves no purpose other than to scare little girls into thinking their dads are going to leave them. Men have a hard enough time dealing with assumptions people make about them without a big toy company jumping on the bandwagon. Thanks so much for the comment!
I found the concept of the Gwen doll interesting. I had to wonder if it was created by a woman in a situation similar to mine. My ex has chosen not to support his children. He is in arrears to me to the tune of thousands of dollars. Due to the current housing market and damage to the home caused by him, I am unable to sell the house and move my children and I somewhere where we won’t lose everything. I am a single mom working two, often three jobs, just to feed my children. I do not need him to succeed but not having to work myself to death would be a wonderful change. I do not support anything that would promote anger or bitterness, which it seems this doll might. Although, a stereotype would not be a stereotype, if there weren’t individuals out there reinforcing the stereotype, hence the term deadbeat dad. My ex is a deadbeat dad. He will not pay until he is forced and due to the exhorbiant number of cases in the system right now, even that process is taking awhile. I was told it will take 4-6 weeks to process my claim, then it was changed to 7-9. Too bad my children can’t wait that long to eat.
Jamie, Thanks for stopping by. I hear what you’re saying about stereotypes being there for a reason. That makes some sense. However, there are many sucky mothers out there too yet all I ever hear about it the saintliness of moms. I just don’t hear the criticism even though there is clearly criticism to go around. Why is that? I think it’s because of perpetuated myths about men. Your situation is unfortunate, but also not indicative of men in general. Like I said in my previous comment, if this had been turned around to make women seem like the evil doers then the reaction would be much different. I’m a stay at home dad, all my friends are either stay at home dad’s or involved parents. I don’t know a single dead-beat dad. I just don’t. Yeah, it’s hurtful and wrong. No might about it.
Interesting. I actually hadn’t even heard of the Gwen doll before reading this post…and I have two little girls!
That said, we’re not big into dolls in our house – especially branded ones (Barbie, Dora, etc.). My girls have a few dolls (that were given to them as gifts), but they much prefer other toys/activities. On most days, you’ll find us: baking, going on long walks, doing arts & crafts projects, reading books, and thinking up ways to help other people.
P.S. I’m “with you” on the Bratz dolls.
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: away from my computer =-.
I’m with you Stephanie. The branded toys are usually nothing special. Your crafts and long walks are the sorts of things most kids need to be doing. Playing with gwen dolls doesn’t seem like a very worthwhile activity to me
Glad someone agrees about the Bratz dolls! Thought I might have been all alone on that one
.-= Keith Wilcox´s last blog ..Pumpkin Carvings: Most Creative =-.
I’ll never spend that kind of money on a doll made in China. But I did get my daughter a retired one from eBay, and made sure it was a vintage one made by the American Pleasant Co. (Before AG was bought out by the Chinese.) I don’t typically allow my daughter to go for these super-trendy things, because it’s just ridiculously expensive. But I like the historical stories behind them, so I gave in to the used one. The cheaper version from Target is very much like the real ones, and only $40. Makes me see that AG from the store itself is SOOOOO not worth it. And this new Gwen doll? I don’t like that story either. There’s enough family destructive stories/movies/shows out there. I know things like this really happen, but it doesn’t need to be ‘normalized’. Positive family stories would be better to promote to these kids, no matter what their circumstance, a better family ideal for them to attain to.
Mitzi, I had no idea that Target was selling a replica. I don’t keep up on the doll scene very well. But, I’ll tell you, 40 bucks sound a whole lot better than 95!
hola las muchecas no son ridiculas quien l escribio es un totnto
Paula: Tienes el derecho de no estar de acuerdo, pero no es amable llamar a otras personas tontas solo porque no estes de acuerdo con lo que dicen.