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| American
Girl Dolls Controversy: |
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Apparently,
there is more to these American Girl dolls than meets the eye, think
of the harm Tinky Winky caused before he was found out..
The
American Girl is an enormously popular line of 8 dolls that, unlike
the shapely Barbie, are representative of a special time in American
history. They dress and act the part and each doll comes with a
book(s) that explains more about the character and the place &
time that she lived. They are fairly expensive but nevertheless,
enormously popular.
The controversy has nothing to do with the dolls themselves
and everything to do with the company that makes them, American
Girl. They offer support to Girls Inc., via an "I Can"
bracelet that sells for $1 (with 70 cents going to Girls Inc.).
Their support of this organization is what draws the wrath of organizations
like the http://www.afa.net, who urge a Christmas boycott of American
Girl.
Nevermind that the Bratz dolls look like call girls, and that Barbie
seems to be showing a bit more "skin" these days; no,
the real problem is that Girls Inc's mission of empowering young
girls with, dare I say, confidence, independent thought is contrary
to the "follow my ideals or else" mantra of these organizations.
Dig into the http://www.girlsinc.org website and you will find that
Girls Incorporated supports these 2 tenets that are causing
all the strife.
- a womans
freedom of choice i.e. Roe vs. Wade (last I heard that
is the law of the land)
- "Girls
have a right to positive, supportive environments and linkages
to community resources for dealing with issues of sexual orientation."
Irregardless of my opinion on this subject, I would support my
daughter with any decision that she made - that is what any civilized,
caring human being would do.
I
might not agree with every single viewpoint that Girls Inc. has,
but I do see the "big
picture";
Girls need our strengths not to be drowned out by our weaknesses.
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