Posted on 10/15/2005 4:57:42 PM PDT by ermmt
Dear sirs and madams -
As I look at my daughters' collections of a total of 4 AG dolls, Bitty Baby, Coconut, Licorice and many, many clothes and accessories, I now feel sorrow instead of joy.
Toys that were meant to enhance their femininity and girlhood are now shrouded with the despicable choice of an organization American Girl has aligned itself with.
My daughters monthly have gone to AG Club meetings at a Christian book store. Lots of her homeschooled friends begin studying periods of history through the AG books.
I never expected nor found all that the company does to meet up with all of my personal convictions or beliefs. Yet, it seems that you should realize that much of your consumer base is at least moderately conservative and would be absolutely offended with your support of an organization that promotes abortion and lesbianism as wonderfully normal life choices. I am quite positive that there are many organizations that provide help and support to girls without beliefs that are truly deviant from mainstream America.
You owe an apology to your customers and a change in your charity. Along with that, you may wish to eliminate the poor marketing folks who thought that supporting Girls Inc. was a good idea and get some people in that will continue the honorable ideals previously promoted.
Kristen XXXXXX Mom to three real American girls - Aleesha, Amanda and Anneliese
Let's keep up the pressure.
Picking on a toy company that markets exclusively to little girls? Excuse me. They market baby dolls. To little girls who will grow up one day and do what? Abort future customers because that will be more responsible and empowering.
God does work in mysterious ways.
You realize it's not the Girl's Club that is the only issue. Girls Inc, is a different entity. American Girl's by their support of Girls Inc, encourages girls to read and study up on things that are quite frankly beyond their years. Plus parents need to introduce these topics, not an agenda driven organization that literally infiltrates themselves through dolls.
Among young women ages 12–17, 88% said “how well it
protects against HIV/AIDS and other STDs” was “very”
or “somewhat” important when choosing a method of
birth control or protection. Among the same group, 84%
said “what my partner wants to use” was important.
In a 1999 survey of young women between the ages of 15
and 17, over half of young women who have had intercourse
have never been tested for an STD (54%) or HIV or AIDS
(61%).12
Due to the vulnerability of the cervix during puberty, young
women are more susceptible to STDs than young men. Because
females are less likely to have detectable symptoms
of STDs, and are less likely to be diagnosed early, they are
more likely to experience long-term complications of STDs.1,10
Among high-risk populations, STD rates are especially high.
In a four year California study of incarcerated juveniles ages
13 to 18, between 38% and 55% of young women tested
positive for an STD each year.14
Nearly one in five (19%) young women ages 12–17 considers
oral sex to be “safe sex.” Additionally, 60% believe condoms
are “somewhat” or “very effective” in protecting against HIV.11
Human papillomavirus (HPV) — a group of more than 100
viruses — is likely the most common STD in young, sexually
active people.5 Women with HPV are at particular risk because
certain types of the disease are causally related to cervical
cancer.9
While young women between the ages of 15 and 19 made up
just 4% of the U.S. population in 2001, they represented 19%
of reported cases of gonorrhea and 32% of reported cases of
chlamydia. Both chlamydia and gonorrhea are especially
prevalent among young Black women.6 (See Figures 4-6.)
In 2001, over 200,000 young women between the ages of 15
and 19 had chlamydia; nearly 70,000 had gonorrhea; and
about 142 had syphilis.9 In that same year, an estimated 1,873
young women between the ages of 13 and 19 had AIDS.4
More from their website aimed at young girls:
Girls Inc. reached more than 900,000 girls in 2000 through affiliates, our website, and educational products,
including action kits, and posters. An additional 2 million girls heard or read the Girls Inc. strong, smart, and
bold message and the Girls Inc. Girls’ Bill of Rights through the Girls’ Rights Campaign. Guided by our vision
of empowered girls and an equitable society, Girls Inc. is committed to reaching millions more girls. Of the girls
the organization serves, 70 percent are girls of color; 75 percent come from families earning $25,000 annually or
less; and 37 percent live with two parents.
Girls Inc. develops research-based informal education programs that encourage girls to take risks and master
physical, intellectual and emotional challenges. Major programs address math and science education, pregnancy
and drug abuse prevention, leadership, media literacy, economic literacy, adolescent health, violence prevention
and sports participation.
hmmmm, sounds an awful lot like planned parenthood's agenda of making sure the non-white and poor people are targeted.
And their link to Girls and Lesbian, Bisexual, and Questioning Identities (Resources for Girls) - note this is aimed towards the girls includes among many references:
Reed, Rita. (1997). Growing up gay: The sorrows and joys of gay and lesbian adolescence. New York:
W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-31659-9. $19.95.
This photographic biography of two young people is a sensitive portrayal of the struggles of adolescence amplified
by the awakening realization that these teens are following a different path than most of the kids in their age
group. The author/photographer is a member of the Star Tribune staff in Minneapolis. Her photographs illustrate
the text, which is made up of the words spoken by Amy and Jamie themselves. This technique makes a real
connection between the reader and the girls.
"You realize it's not the Girl's Club that is the only issue. Girls Inc, is a different entity. American Girl's by their support of Girls Inc, encourages girls to read and study up on things that are quite frankly beyond their years."
I found this.
"The first club was opened there--for boys only--and soon other communities in the region decided that such places would be good for their boys. By the early 20th century the clubs started to affiliate themselves with each other, and in 1931 they became Boys Clubs of America. In 1956, the group was chartered by Congress, and the charter was updated--after an agreement was reached with Girls Clubs of America, which changed its name to Girls, Inc.--to reflect the organization's name change to Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 1990."
So we are talking about boycotting a toy company for a supporting a charity chartered by congress that is also supported by pretty much eveyr major corpoation. Girl's inc.'s CEO is also Managing Director, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. thats giving a lot more support than Amerian Girl.
But again i am not debating the right to do it... just saying that alothough I wish y'all luck, i think it is unwise. If you want to go after Girls Inc you should pick one of their biggest supporters - like Coca Cola or Microsoft.
As someone else has pointed out, the problem/boycott isn't so much to pick on Girls Inc., per say, but the specific contribution from American Girl to this group. It isn't an appropriate charity for a line of products that is for sale in some Christian book stores - consumers of AG products have an expectation that the company is going to maintain some specific ideals. I don't expect a company marketing carbonated products with all sorts of unhealthy aspects (Coke) to have these same ideals. Additionally, this is the first out-in-the-open, you-can-participate-too charitable thing that American Girl has done (that I'm aware of, at least). The company needs to be aware that, if it wants to maintain it's current customer base, it needs to be sensitive to the beliefs held by those consumers.
"It isn't an appropriate charity for a line of products that is for sale in some Christian book stores - consumers of AG products have an expectation that the company is going to maintain some specific ideals."
Hmmm Well you know that is a good point. I can certainly see Christian books stores not wanting to sell a product if part of the proceeds go to pro-choice groups.
Maybe I was a bit hasty and I over-generalized. I can also see how people who like to shop at Christian bookstores could then follow. Yep I think I was hasty. Thanks for reasoning with me.
I just posted a comment about Girls Inc sounding like Planned Barrenhood over here.
I had lost track of the other thread, thanks. Here's a nifty little website to help you find previous pages of websites
http://www.waybackmachine.org/
The side bar about "sexual learning and sexual expression in the womb" is a bit over the top, but the content of the main text is just the facts -- and conveniently leaves out more titillating info like the fact that ultrasound technology has enabled viewing of male fetuses having erections.
Read the link. PUKE!
Socially, the major development [in Girls age 8 - 12] is in forming friendships. While heterosexual contact may be more common than it had been up to this point, activities such as exploring a friend's body may be more common than before. These healthy responses to sexual curiosity and affection for best friends do not tell us anything about what the adult sexual orientation of the young woman will be.
It may be fact but it's presented so as to justify their position. Little girls should not be having to deal with these issues (abortion, homosexuality). It's hypocritical and deceptive for a company to market such wholesome products to little girls and then direct them to a site like Girl's Inc. Parents who want to have something safe for their girls to play with have been betrayed. If the liberals would stop forcing sex so into the limelight at progressively earlier ages, they might just begin to see a decrease in STD's, teen pregnancies, abortion, and sexual identity confusion. The arguement that kids have to be informed about these issues because that's what real life is all about, rots. They're the ones that have made real life like that. If it weren't for their efforts, kids could still be growing as kids.
Mattel will never be sensitive to offending customers. They are essentially a monopoly, and they know you'll buy their products because there are no acceptably "cool" substitutes for Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher Price, American Girl, Uno, Scrabble, View Master, Magna Doodle, Diva Starz, Matchbox, &etc.
http://www.mattel.com/our_toys/default.asp?f=false&s=
rhythmic body movements and sensual body exploration by infants of both sexes sometimes result in orgasm.
How do they know? Are they using info from Kinsey's infamous Table 34?
Several qualitative studies have suggested that infants whose sexual behavior (genital and non-genital) was accepted as a natural part of development...
You've got to be kidding me! Sexual behavior of infants?!
Children do not reliably know their gender identity until age 2or 3. And even after that, many believe they might change sexes until age 4 or 5.
So children are hermaphrodites until age 5? Hey, who here changed their sex before kindergarten?
activities such as exploring a friend’s body may be more common than before. These healthy responses to sexual curiosity and affection for best friends do not tell us anything about what the adult sexual orientation of the young woman will be.
Now they're encouraging homosexual exploration to preadolescents.
The rest of the article is just rationalizations for pushing their specific sex ed agenda including teaching children about sexual desire. They end with a call for adolescent reproductive rights. And as the article notes, adolescence occurs as young as 8. Reproductive rights and education about sexual desire for 8 year olds? Isn't that the motto of a pedophile group?
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Not all of the links on the American girls web site are available. The home page is totally different from 2 days ago. The infamous bracelet has to be searched for (I did not find it), and most pages are not available. Think something may be happening in marketing...
Thanks for the tip.
The American Girl Web site is temporarily unavailable.
Conservatives have decided to follow Girls Inc suggestions by aborting American Girls products.
It seems that American Girl isn't so anxious for us to abort them!
You really don't get it, do you? Little girls go on the American Girl website to look at dolls and their accessories, to find fun games to play with their friends, to email online penpals. Parents let their 8 year olds on this website unsupervised because AG has successfully marketed itself as age appropriate, wholesome material for little girls. Guess what? Including a link to a website that talks about lesbianism and abortion is not appropriate for a little girl, particularly a little girl who still plays with dolls.
Coca Cola, J&J, and whoever else gives to Girls Inc, is bright enough not to have a link in the children's section of the webpage encouraging little girls to support Girls Inc by buying a bracelet. Furthermore, I am not aware of Coca Cola or J&J ever running a campain saying buy this supercool bracelet and we'll give Girls Inc. a dollar.
As much as you'd like to ridicule this boycott, it will have an impact. AG was not just selling overpriced dolls, they were selling a wholesome little girl image and that's gone now.
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