As a mother of two daughters, I have a vested interest in this latest scandal. My oldest daughter has a collection of American Girl Dolls and my 5-year-old was soon to start a collection herself.
This company is popular among young girls, selling everything from dolls to books with reading curriculums.
That's why I was shocked to learn that this company has teamed up with the charity Girls Inc. and is selling "I Can" bracelets to benefit the liberal organization.
Unfortunately, Girls Inc. supports abortion and believes that young girls should be able to develop "sexual identities" and be given birth control. Keep in mind that girls as young as toddlers all the way to teens are the target audience of the American Girl company.
I don't think my 5-year-old needs to learn about "sexual empowerment" when all she's worried about is learning fancy ballet moves.
Here is an email, sent out by The American Family Association, detailing the controversy as well as providing a pre-written email that you can send along to The American Girl Company to express your dissatisfaction over their decision to join with this dangerous charity:
Dear Friend of the Family,I'll be publishing a response that one mother received from American Girl over this issue in a separate post.Possibly some of you have daughters who play with the American Girl dolls or read their books. You may even be thinking about buying a doll or books for Christmas. Well, it turns out American Girl (owned by Mattel) is partnering with a group called Girls Inc. to sell a bracelet, the "I Can" band, which financially supports Girls Inc. Seventy cents of every purchase goes to Girls Inc.
The band is sold on the American Girl webpage with a large ad and a link to the Girls Inc. webpage. In addition, the webpage says American Girl is giving $50,000 to Girls, Inc.
The problem here is that Girls Inc. has on their webpage a statement saying they particularly support abortion and a girl's right to abort an unwanted baby. They were quite clear about their support for Roe, so there is no mistake or room for confusion on that count. Additionally, Girls Inc. supports contraceptives for girls.
They also support and offer resources encouraging lesbian and bi-sexual lifestyles, actually offering resources for girls. One of their publications states, "The emergence of a lesbian identity is an ongoing process, rather than an event."
Of course, American Girl itself is a separate company, unrelated to Girls, Inc. except now by webpage and the seventy cents on every bracelet. I checked out the Girls, Inc. website, and it is exactly as I have told you. Below are some direct links, so that you can see them for yourself.
American Girl website offering "I Can" band to benefit Girls Inc.Girls Incorporated supports a woman's freedom of choice
Convenient access to safe, effective methods of contraception
Girls and Lesbian, Bisexual, and Questioning Identities
Free your mind: The book for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth and their allies.
Girls and Sexual Health (with sexual orientation on page 3
I hope you will take time to let American Girl know they are making a terrible mistake by supporting the pro-abortion, pro-lesbian organization, Girls Inc.
Please send them an email expressing your disappointment and let American Girl president Ellen Brothers know the company's decision casts a great shadow over their trustworthiness to put the welfare of girls and children first.
Click Here To Email American Girl Now!
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Chairman
American Family Association
Just called American Girl and stated that it is a shame to learn about their funding an org that supports Roe v Wade
and homosexuality just prior to Christmas. Noted that I
wouldn't be buying my granddaughters their products.
The woman answering the call said "We only support 3 prongs of the I-Can platform.
Told her that doesn't fly!
Can't support an org that supports Roe and then claim you only support part of it!!
My friend works at Mattel and she told me that a lot of messages are really nasty and scary like "how does it feel to be a babykiller" and "you will burn for this" and "hell-bound lesbian." I should point out that she's a very conservative Christian and now also a FORMER AFA member. We are our own worst enemy.
It's not surprising to once again see that a right-wing fundamentalist organization like the AFA would resort to such fear mongering and a total distortion of the facts, in order to attack a company like Girls, Inc.
I'd love to know how many supporters of the AFA, or readers of this, or similar blogs (that seem to designed only to promote witch-hunts and vigilante justice), actually bothered to READ the Girls Inc web site, to verify the outrageous claims that you and the AFA have made about them.
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that few, if any of the people who said that they would gladly boycott American Girl even BOTHERED to see just what was on the Girls, Inc. site before they agreed to fall in line, lock-step, behind Mr. Wildmon.
BTW, I looked all over the Girls, Inc. website and didn't see anything about lesbians OR abortion. I don't know where you saw it.
It must be nice when the followers of a cult group like AFA does everything that the leader says they should do, or think, or believe (kinda like what Osama's followers do). It's just sad when the leader of a group as large as AFA uses such distortions and mean-spirited attacks on a company like Girls, Inc. that is trying to actually HELP girls to grow up to be healthy, well-adjusted women.
Developing healthy, well-adjusted women is certainly not something that anyone involved with the "junior miss beauty pageant" circuit is doing, since they are fixated on trying to make a 5-yr old to look, and act, like an 25-yr old.
Yet I'm also sure that plenty of those stage-struck Moms (and some Dads) would be the first ones to be willing to boycott a legitimate company like American Girl for their involvement with Girls, Inc. How sad.
Alan