Guest Post by Morbo
As the Carpetbagger mentioned earlier this week, the Rev. Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association (AFA) has come out swinging against a popular line of dolls beloved by little girls all over the country.
Wildmon, everyone’s favorite witch-finder general, has from his perch in Tupelo, Miss., set his sights on dolls for preteen girls produced by the American Girl Company.
I wanted to weigh in on this matter because I happen to be very familiar with these dolls, which represent spunky girls from various historical periods. My 11-year-old daughter has approximately 704 of these dolls and their accessories — and believe me, there are a lot of accessories.
I also once took my daughter to the American Girl Place in Chicago, a kind of surreal parallel universe occupied exclusively by 8-12 year old girls walking around with dolls in the crooks of their arms. (Occasionally you see a male sibling who was obviously dragged along, looking equally bewildered and horrified.)
What is American Girl’s crime? The company, which is now owned by Mattel, is selling an “I Can” wristband that supports a national advocacy group called Girls Inc. This group, according to its mission statement, seeks to inspire girls “to be strong, smart and bold.” (An AG press release noted that the “berry-colored” band “can be worn as a bracelet, a ponytail holder, a zipper pull, a backpack charm, or however a girl chooses to express her individuality.” That is so American Girl. You see, you don’t have to wear it as a wristband; it’s all about empowerment.)
The Girls Inc. initiatives being supported by the band sales deal with three areas: one builds girls’ skills in science and math, a second develops leadership skills and the third encourages athletic prowess and participation in team sports.
The Associated Press reported that Girls Inc., which traces its roots back to an organization founded in 1864, serves about 800,000 girls per year, many of them from low-income families. However, the group does engage in some advocacy. It believes that women must have reproductive freedom, and its supports girls who may be lesbian or bisexual.
That was enough to get Wildmon going. He has called for conservative Christians to boycott American Girl and has dragged his “pro-life” allies into the cause. Wildmon claims that American Girl dolls are popular among conservatives and says his boycott will pack a punch.
I’m not so sure about that.
To be sure, the AG company does promote many traditional values. For example, it reminds pre-teen girls that it’s OK to be a girl — to care about best friends over boyfriends and make believe over make-up. American Girl advises preteens not to be in a hurry to become teenagers, and it helps parents resist trends that sexualize children at a young age or urge them to grow up too fast. I’ve always liked that about the company.
But at the same time, American Girl sends a strong message of girl empowerment, and I suspect this is what’s really bothering Wildmon. The AG books that come with the dolls portray plucky heroines who tell their girl readers, “You can do or be what you want. Knowledge is the key. Don’t be afraid to try.” In the books, the girl protagonists are strong figures who solve problems and take action on their own. They don’t sit around waiting for some boy to rescue them. These are proto-feminists. I don’t see any of them growing up to be barefoot and pregnant or gleefully submitting to some Promise Keeper. That’s not the American Girl way.
American Girl also publishes a line of non-fiction books that use plain, frank but entirely non-alarming language to let girls know what they can expect as they mature and their bodies, minds and emotions change. If you have a 8-12 girl in your home, I highly recommend the AG title The Care & Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls. Books like this must make Wildmon shudder. There’s even a section on menstruation!
In the end, I think Wildmon is not so much worked up about abortion or gay rights as he is about female empowerment. Wildmon attacks American Girl for the same reason that Focus on the Family whales on the Girl Scouts: If you start telling girls they have rights, they might start exercising them. If you tell them to aim high, they just might. Who knows where that might lead?
And most terrifying of all to the fundamentalists, if you inspire young girls with strong role models, they could become less likely later in life to swallow implausible stories about how God, almost as an afterthought, created a woman from the rib of a man primarily to serve and submit.