Gwen, the Newest American Girl
By GlindaSee this lovely new doll from American Girl?
Her name is Gwen, and she comes with a pretty eyelet dress, braided pink sandals, and pink underwear to match!
And like all American Girl dolls, Gwen has a backstory. But instead of being a pioneer or a hippie chick, she’s homeless.
You can buy homeless Gwen for a mere $95.00 of the American dollars. Not a penny of which goes to help fund charities for the homeless.
So, join me in a chorus of “that’s just wrong!” won’t you?
September 30th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I heard about this yesterday and looked it up, because it sounded quite unlike the American Girl company I’ve been a fan of–they may be expensive, but they are very well made and historically accurate. Anyway, AG has their “main” dolls, who often now have friends as well that you can buy. Gwen is a friend of the 2009 AG Doll of the Year–every year there is different modern doll with her own backstory. The 2009 doll is named Chrissa, and her story is about how she stands up to bullying and the Queen Bees at her school. I haven’t read the books, but from the website it seems to me that Gwen is bullied because of her former situation of being homeless. Yes, former situation, she’s not actually homeless in the book. So, I don’t think it’s such a terrible thing if this doll teaches children to be more accepting of others and less judgmental.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I just have to complain that I checked over to the site and they retired Samantha?? Man, I remember growing up EVERYBODY wanted Samantha (except for my Swedish Minnesotan friends who all wanted Kirsten). I remember poring over my American Girl catalogue for hours growing up, and recording “American Girl Radio” sessions with my best friend (we read the stories, did trivia questions off the trading cards and awarded prizes from the catalogue to the “callers”), being a member of the club, everything. They are a very, very influential company on young girl’s mindsets, but I think I may have to go with Pencils that their influence is mainly felt through the positive stories, not donations. I’m not sure I’ve heard of any precedent for them being a big donor company.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
American Girl is not a doll, it’s a cult. That being said, I fully expect to be shopping with them for my granddaughter as soon as she realizes she can’t live without her own AG Doll.
September 30th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
There’s more than a little irony in this given that offical AG doll clothes are frightfully expensive
October 1st, 2009 at 12:54 pm
I happen to think that it is shameful in this recessionary day and age, when more and more children are falling under the poverty line, that this doll which purports to “educate” about the homeless costs so much damn money.
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Well, don’t buy one then, Glinda. That’s how much the AG dolls cost–and the company isn’t hurting for profits. And, BTW, she’s not supposed to educate about homelessness, the book is about bullying, a point that everyone seems to be missing. It would have been nice if AG had donated the profits of Gwen to the homeless, but they’re owned by Mattel these days, they’re not the small company they used to be.