VIDEO: "Homeless Doll" Debate on FoxNews
4:24 AM Posted by TheTruth
Last friday, FoxNews flew me in to 'debate' the new Homeless Doll from American Girl with AOL ParentDish senior editor, Susan Avery.
What do you think?
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Monday, September 28, 2009 5:43:00 AM
Toys provide various representations of 'life' and I think the catch here is what this doll might suggest - does it foster empathy or does it normalize female dependancy - and I think it's a bit of both. Your point is spot on and yet as a female who has overcome many obstacles and has always been the breadwinner, any empathy and understanding for women who do, in fact, come into hard times, is a good thing. Bottom line, it's a great debate because the female and her role are at least of concern so we are moving the line forward:) Nice job on TV by the way. Cheers.
Monday, September 28, 2009 6:36:00 AM
Our family knows a very accomplished/famous female who is known as the "first" in her field. She often gives talks around the country on how girls can accomplish ANY dream they desire. Her number one advice is to surround yourself with positive people. I'm sure there are many postive homeless people, but let's be honest, a homeless doll is not a positive tool. ..I truly think that American Girl doll company, who puts out a new doll every year around Christmastime, was hard up for a new idea this year. Why not a doll that grows up to be an astronaut? ....Why not a doll that inspires. I'm sorry for the homeless in America, but to me they are not the role models that I'll tell my children to emulate. Great job on the air, although I wish they had given the segment some more time. I'm sure it's hard to express your views in 2-3 minutes. Thanks for all you do. Your tips for successful girls are spot on. I have two daughters and they both will do great things in their lives because they know they can! :)
Monday, September 28, 2009 7:27:00 AM
The problem with this doll is that it will ALWAYS be homeless! The subconscious message is that for some people, this is their plight and it will never change. Now, if you had a doll that could metamorphosize, then you might be on to something.
Monday, September 28, 2009 7:51:00 AM
There seems to be confusion as to what a toy doll does. A young daughter used to emulate mother in taking care of a child. Now, new dolls have come out that have careers. Mothers have careers. Now the child can emulate mother in her career. There are other ways to teach about homelessness when a child is ready to know about it. But using a doll to emulate in play is not a good way because those bad habbits leading to failure that homeless doll has can become ingrained in your daughter's life, causing her later to never be successful. It may make your daughter afraid to be successful because she may feel that she will end up homeless if she takes a risk like that, thus she won't try. It may make her think that women are not to be successful. Most women who were homeless become homeful again through marriage. This homeless doll may make a daughter think that the only way to be successful in life is to marry. She may later marry and never go beyond that and have a career. It would be okay if that is what daughter wants, but, to never go beyond because of fear, or because of believing she is only second in the species would not be good. She may grow up thinking it is cool to be homeless. I could go on about the negative ways that emulating homelessness could affect a young daughter. I agree with Dr. Janet Rose, a homeless doll is not the right toy to give a young daughter to model. And lets get it straight, a doll is used to model mommies or even to just model a career a child is excited about at the time. Not to educate on homelessness. This is very negative.
Monday, September 28, 2009 8:05:00 AM
If you read the book--or even just listened to the clip--you will see that the girl & her mother work their way OUT of poverty. They overcome. What more powerful message can you send to a child (especially a female) than that bad things happen, that are often outside our control--but you don't give up. You keep working; keep fighting.
Children are born kind--you can foster that by helping them understand that while their parents can afford to buy them an AG Doll--other people struggle to put food on their tables & keep a roof over their head. It's about empathy.
The ONE thing the CLEARLY BIASED anchor said that made sense is that to really send a message about this problem, a portion of the proceeds should go to causes that assist the homeless. This company is not about empathy--they are about making $$--so they should take this idea and back it up with a helping hand of their own.
Monday, September 28, 2009 8:28:00 AM
I did a search on the web to get a closer look at this Homeless Gwen doll. I've got to say she doesn't look hard up in her pretty white dress and flower flip flops. That's not to say homeless people are all derelicks huddled around fires in trash cans. The point I'm trying to make is that American Girl looks to be glamourizing homelessness.
I love the story of overcoming I just don't think this doll is the right way to share this story. The web-site I looked at said the suggested age for American Doll collectors is 8 ... many 8 year olds I know are outgrowing dolls it's the 3 and 4 year olds collecting these things. In my opinion they are just to young to hear or understand the message.
If 100% of the profits was being directed to organizations that aid homeless people then I could see value in it. Since that is not the case here this doll is in very poor taste.
Monday, September 28, 2009 12:08:00 PM
I once hit a bad set of circumstances when I was younger that caused me to be homeless-Not because I was dependent on a man, but because I was dependent on parents who were abusive. However, all of that is behind me and now I have a wonderful little girl and a stable home life. That said, I still would never buy a doll like this for my daughter! It shows such negativity! And I also would never buy a slavery doll for her either! No matter what "lesson" she may learn!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 8:17:00 AM
@Kim Roman Corle: @anonymous; @Diane Benett
Thank you for your insight! Your concern for the messages you send your daughters is loud and clear. I applaud you for your passion and your obvious efforts to nurture your strong girls into strong women!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 8:21:00 AM
@Happinspirit
You are most definitely a strong woman. Thank you for sharing your story!