Stupidest Doll Ever?
By: Keith
I was recently made aware of the American Girl line of dolls from Mattel Toys by a blogging friend of mine, at Clark Kent’s Lunchbox. I’m woefully behind the times apparently because these dolls seem to be a pretty big deal. There is a controversy brewing over one of their most recent creations, a doll named Gwen whose back story includes a dead-beat dad, a mom who lost her job, and their eventual spiral into homelessness. I looked up the other characters in the American Doll line and found that the rest of them seem like excellent products. I’m just sad to say that Gwen was poorly conceived and is hurtful to the majority of fathers who actually go to extraordinary lengths to support their children. My problem with this doll is not that she is homeless per say; it’s that she is portrayed as homeless because of a no-good man. These dolls are obviously intended for little girls; what message does it send to be telling them that the cause of their problems in life will invariably be men?
The Bad
1. $95. This doll costs 95 bucks! It portrays a homeless girl and it costs almost 100 dollars. I am not the only one who sees the irony in this. Couldn’t they have donated a portion of the proceeds to the actual homeless? And, the person who buys this doll must not be aware of how indifferent to homelessness they must seem to the rest of us. If I wanted to teach my kids about homelessness I certainly wouldn’t do it by spending 100 dollars on a teaching proxy. I’d probably go volunteer at a soup kitchen and drag my kids along. That’s free, the kids learn something, and we actually get to help people. Novel idea.
2. Dead Beat dad? Seriously? I would do anything for my kids, anything. I’m a typical dad because almost all dads, just like almost all moms, would do anything to see their kids grow up happy and healthy. I’m a little tired of the political indoctrination that is going on with Gwen and other such slams on dads. The message is clear. Men are scum and men will abandon you. The girls buying these dolls are between 4 and 6 years old (even though the recommended age is 8). When these girls are being tucked into bed at night will they be scared to wake up without a dad because he just decided to get up and go? It isn’t a ridiculous fear considering what they’re being told.
The Good
1. The idea for the American Girl line of dolls is really great. They are dolls that come with books that are supposed to teach girls about uniquely American experiences through the eyes of young girls. There are stories about fugitive slaves, ranch girls, archaeologists, and figure skaters to name a few. The list of positive role models is long. I don’t have a daughter but if I did I think I would be happy to read the majority of these stories to her.
2. It’s an alternative to Barbie. Barbie is okay I guess. But, she’s 50 years old; it would be nice to have a viable alternative. Notwithstanding the body image argument, I think Barbie is just a little stale. The American Doll line seems to have addressed a growing market — dolls with a conscience. Whereas Barbie is all about fun at the beach and dating Ken the American Dolls actually strive to teach something while still giving girls something to play with. I think that’s a good idea. Oh, and Bratz dolls are beyond stupid. They’re nothing more than bratty looking vacuous dolls that teach nothing and look dumb to boot.
Boycott?
I don’t boycott anything. I don’t believe in boycotting companies. First of all, boycotts rarely work. They either take money out of circulation thereby hurting all business, or they shift money to other equally unsavory businesses. The economics of boycott are more complicated than just taking revenue away from a company you don’t like. The free market system provides for boycotts through the decision to buy or not to buy individual products. There is no need for companywide boycotts. I am not calling for a Mattel Toys boycott. I am simply saying that they made a bad decision with this Gwen doll. My reasons are as stated and I’ll leave it at that.
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.