SDG here.
MSNBC runs a story about St. Luke’s Catholic school in Brookfield, Wisconsin, where they decided to drop a fashion show/fund raiser with an American Girl™ theme.
For those of you who haven’t heard of them already, the popular American Girl™ dolls are costumed to represent girls of all walks of life from various periods in American history. The fashion show would have featured girls carrying the dolls and wearing matching outfits.
My wife and daughter have happily collected American Girl™ dolls, along with the books and other items marketed with the dolls, though we are now boycotting the company (owned by Mattel, Inc.).
It’s a shame, because I thought the dolls’ designers tapped in to a neglected market, allowing doll collecting to become a lesson in American history. I actually picked up one of their books and found it surprisingly well-written. I had expected pure drek, but it was not too far off from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House™ books.
You might figure that the American Girl™ folks would know a good thing when they had it, and would give anything that might bring unnecessary controversy to their enterprise a wide berth. This is especially true considering that collectors of a doll line called American Girl™ might tend to run to the conservative side.
But American Girl™ recently decided to endorse a charity called Girls, Inc., and there the controversy began. They actually offered in their catalog some of those rubber bracelets you see so much nowadays, with proceeds going to Girls, Inc.
The charity itself is actually not mentioned until the very last paragraph of the MSNBC piece, and is described in glowing terms that sound as if they might have been lifted from the group’s promotional material:
“Girls Inc. offers a wide range of programs and resources to help
educate and encourage girls in everything from science to health. That
includes information about abortion and contraception along with sexual
abstinence. The organization also affirms lesbian sexual orientation.”.
The folks at American Girl™ just don’t see what all the stink is about, and are befuddled that anyone might be upset at their innocent support of a charity that, after all, is just trying to help girls.
St. Lukes’ pastor, Fr. Frank Malloy, summed up the reason for dropping the fashion show:
“It’s a bargain we’ll just have to pass up. The cost is too high. Our integrity isn’t for sale.”
I voted in the online poll, but support for the school predictably lagged behind on the site. You can read the story and vote in the poll HERE.
Wisc. school nixes American Girl show
A Roman Catholic school is canceling a fashion show by the manufacturer of a popular line of dolls a
If I may repeat the comments I left at Amy Welborn’s site:
It started out around 1985 as “Pleasant Company” (after its founder, Pleasant Rowland) and at first featured just three of the “historical” dolls – Kirsten, Samantha and Molly, with Addy coming along a short time later. Beautiful dolls (each of my daughters has one) and well-written books which really do try to capture the spirit of the period in which they take place.
At that time the emphasis was all on the historical aspect, and the few girls’ clothes that were available were reproduction period dresses. It wasn’t until after Mattel bought out Ms Rowland that someone cut the brake lines and they added “The Girl of Today” (how boring) and the glitzy-trashy clothing and the emphasis on middle-school culture at its silliest. What a shame.
“It’s a bargain we’ll just have to pass up. The cost is too high. Our integrity isn’t for sale.”
Bravo! I love it when priests are quoted like this!
It just goes to show that you never know where your money ends up. It’s sort of like the big donations from the Susan Komen (breast cancer) foundation to planned parenthood. Who saw that coming? certaintly not me.
I also never would have thought supporting a seemingly wholesome doll company would result in supporting someone who endorses abortion/lesbianism/contraception.
This is one thing that just KILLS me. These “entertainment” groups that sort of overstep their bounds. Grants they can do whatever they like with their money, etc. But whenever I pick up a novel, or a toy, or go to a movie, I want to be entertained and maybe learn a little something. I dont want to be preached at, socially indoctrinated or “confronted” with controvercial issues that are going to “make me think.” Entertainment time is ME time. That means shutting off the “thinking” valve and PLAYING. These guys were promoting a love of reading in girls and promoting american history. That was a very generalized goal and a very niche market, that’s like the holy grail of product placement. But then they have to go branching out into all these other areas, basically inflating their chest and being self-important… teaching girls how to read and about history isn’t enough. We’re going to “save” them from these social issues as well. *sigh.*
I used to live near Michigan Ave in Chicago back when I was a poor college student. a fun time was walking around American Girl Place and then FAO Schwartz. I guess I can hold onto the FAO Schwartz memories until I hear something bad about them.
Brace yourself, Tammy. FAO Schwarz disappeared from Michigan Avenue a couple of years ago.
when we got our american girl catalog in the mail I called them asking to be removed from their mailing list because of the girls inc connection. They were very respectful, transferred me to a manager who said my comments would be noted and forwarded to the appropriate people (whoever they are). I was surprised, actually, because in other instances where I’ve dont this they haven’t given a flying leap why I’m cancelling my catalog or subscription.
My wife (Laurie) has organized/put on this fashion show for the last 3 years at our parish in Denver (St. Thomas More). The scandal broke 3 days before this year’s first show. She won’t be doing it anymore as long as American Girl has the association with Girls Inc.
She contacted American Girl when the news broke and they assured her that the money they provide to Girls Inc. does not go to support abortion/lesbian things. Even if that is true, it still would allow Girls Inc. to channel more funds supporting abortion/lesbian things than they might otherwise.
We are going to ask our pastor Fr. Andrew to make a donation to St. Luke’s to make up for some of the funds they won’t be getting from the show. I encourage everyone to make some small donation to them as well. Here is St. Luke’s contact info:
Father Frank Malloy, Pastor
Mary Laidlaw-Otto, Principal
St. Luke’s Catholic School
1800 W. Greenfield Ave.
Brookfield WI 53045
Laurie is going to contact all of the people putting on the show in the near future and make sure they understand about the American Girl – Girls Inc. relationship. Maybe some of the others will drop the show too, and maybe, just maybe, that will get Mattel’s attention (though I’m not holding my breath…).