American Girl releases “homeless” doll
The public issue of homelessness has a new face in Gwen, the newest American Girl doll.
For just $95, you too can own blonde-haired, bright-eyed Gwen, who comes with a pretty white eyelet lace dress, pink belt and flip-flops. She looks more like a girl about to hit the beach than a homeless girl. I suppose I can understand, though. What wealthy suburbanite would be willing to buy an American girl doll with tangled hair and old mismatched clothing? After all, the whole point of American Girl dolls is to be marketable to young upper-middle class girls.
Which brings us to a conflict of interests. It seems like rather than raising public awareness, Mattel is trivializing the issue of homelessness in order to better market its doll.
In the books that accompany each doll, Gwen serves as little more than a charity case for Chrissa, American Girl’s “Girl of the Year” for 2009.
From the American Girl Web site:
“After the mean girls in Chrissa’s class play a cruel trick on Chrissa’s friend Gwen, Chrissa uses her creativity to help Gwen get through the bad situation. She and her friends make and decorate headbands that they wear to school to show Gwen that they support her — and to show everyone else that they stand up for others. “
How sweet. Without Gwen, nobody would know how kind, strong and compassionate Chrissa really is. How ever would poor little Gwen survive those bullies all on her own? More importantly, how else would Chrissa prove that she deserves to be “Girl of the Year?”
Is this the right message to send about homeless children? To relegate Gwen to sidekick status and stereotype her as lonely and shy puts a one-dimensional label on the issue of homelessness without really discussing the underlying causes. Again though, I suppose I can understand. How can an eight-year-old who has never been for want possibly understand what it means to be homeless?
American Girl customers are much more likely to identify with Chrissa than Gwen. If you’re homeless, chances are your mom can’t afford to shell out $95 for a doll that probably has nicer clothes than you do. It seems that Gwen exists in the American Girl empire primarily as Chrissa’s charity case.
If Mattel were to donate a part of the proceeds to a charity like Horizons for Homeless Children, perhaps I could take the doll a little more seriously. As it stands, even though American Girl intends for its doll to “offer valuable lessons about life,” the issue of homelessness is far too complex to be watered down in cookie-cutter fashion.
I’m not asking for American Girl to try and tackle contemporary public issues in a comprehensive manner when our society has yet to find a plausible solution. However, Mattel should recognize that some issues are not appropriately addressed by creating a doll.
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One writer has a more realistic take on homelessness. Or you can return home.
Oh god, not this again. If you’d take the time to read the book/watch the movie that was made about these characters instead of just reading the sensational hype that’s been circulating around the internet, you would see that Gwen isn’t just a shy, quiet, stereotypical sidekick.
Also, Chrissa doesn’t deserve to be the Girl of the Year because she stands up for Gwen- she herself is actually a victim of the bullying, which is quite vicious, considering it’s from elementary school age girls. The fact that she does something at all is quite impressive. The whole point of Chrissa was to highlight the fact that bullying does exist among girls-elementary age girls- and that it’s a problem that seriously needs to be addressed, because the kind of bullying that girls engage in is so much sneakier and under the radar. It needs exposure. Gwen’s story just happened to be a part of that.
Here’s the original press release from January 1st (these dolls were out for TEN MONTHS, that’s right, TEN MONTHS, before this whole debacle started. Why didn’t anyone care in January?):
http://www.americangirl.com/corp/pr.php?y=2009&date=0101
And in March, American Girl sponsored a “Stop the Bullying” Day. But you didn’t hear about that either, since it wasn’t widely covered.
http://www.americangirl.com/corp/pr.php?y=2009&date=0317
The original trailer for the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6mN-F8P2ps
And by the way, Mattel has been donating to charities for years. In fact, HomeAid America (a leading national nonprofit provider of housing for the homeless), Project Playhouse, and Mattel have been partners since 2006, way before this controversy began.
http://www.americangirl.com/corp/pr.php?y=2009&date=1001_2
http://www.americangirl.com/corp/pr.php?y=2009&date=1001_1
Gah
November 3, 2009 at 1:49 am
Way to erase my comment, guys. Really professional.
wow, really?
November 3, 2009 at 10:52 am
I’m just going to reiterate that Mattel has been donating proceeds from its sales as well as dolls to HomeAid America since 2006, three years before Gwen even came out.
Just a Reminder
November 3, 2009 at 10:54 am
Yikes, this could have been an interesting commentary, but just came off sounding one-sided and whiny.
.
November 3, 2009 at 11:58 pm