American Girl boycotted: Accused of luring youth into radical feminist ideology

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | November 2, 2005 | WorldNetDaily.com

[Diago]

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

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American Girl boycotted
Accused of luring youth into radical feminist ideology

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Posted: November 2, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

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© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

After repeated unheeded warnings, a pro-life group launched a boycott yesterday against the popular doll maker American Girl for its association with a group that promotes abortion rights and lesbianism.

"American Girl has refused to sever ties with pro-abortion Girls Incorporated," said Ann Scheidler, executive director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League, "This leaves us no choice but to call for a boycott of American Girl dolls and accessories for the duration of the 2005 Christmas shopping season."

In August, as WorldNetDaily reported, American Girl launched the "I Can" campaign with Girls Inc., urging girls to take a pledge and purchase a special bracelet.

Scheidler said young girls are being "lured into contact with their radical feminist ideology" through the bracelet offer.

"We are asking people who care about little girls and about the value of human life to refrain from purchasing products and visiting American Girl Place during the entire Christmas shopping season," she said.

"As consumers, we have both the freedom and the responsibility to spending our gift dollars in a manner consistent with our values," Scheidler continued. "There are excellent alternatives to American Girl dolls. We expect that many families will choose to reject American Girl this Christmas."

The American Family Association also has initiated a campaign to warn parents.

After launching its protest last month, Scheidler's group claimed American Girl had begun to de-emphasize its partnership with Girls Inc.

Officially, however, American Girl maintained it had no plans to discontinue its affiliation, and Scheidler said if there was no announcement to sever the relationship by the end of October, her group would call for a national boycott and organize demonstrations at the American Girl Place in Chicago and New York City.

On its website, Girls Inc. says it supports a girl's right to abort an unwanted baby and promotion of contraceptives for girls. The group also offers resources encouraging lesbian and bisexual lifestyles. One publication, "Free your mind: The book for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth and their allies," states, "The emergence of a lesbian identity is an ongoing process, rather than an event."

With every purchase of the "I Can" band, 70 cents is given to Girls Inc. in addition to American Girl's contribution of $50,000.

Scheidler called the endorsement of abortion, lesbianism and contraception for young girls a betrayal of the trust American families have place in American Girl."

"It is insidious for American Girl to manipulate girls into supporting Girls, Inc. through the 'I Can' bracelet and its promise," said Scheidler. "Most of the girls buying the bracelets have no idea what Girls, Inc. stands for."

American Girl says its contributions are earmarked for specific academic and athletic programs, but Scheidler calls that "deceptive," because it "simply frees up revenue for their reprehensible programs, such as promoting abortion."

She says, however, the "earmarking ploy does imply there are programs that American Girl is not comfortable with."

Scheidler has encouraged parents, grandparents and other family members to write and call American Girl President Ellen L. Brothers to protest the company's support for Girls Inc.

Previous stories:

American Girl feels heat of protest

American Girl teams with pro-abortion, pro-lesbian group

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[twinzmommy]

Or . . .

Maybe I took sex ed? Or a class in Human sexuality? Or maybe I'm not afraid to ask my friends questions in the course of child rearing (as in, discussing that resource list that is on the Girls Inc site with friends and getting their opinion)?

I am a full time college student, and I'm finding that the generation that is there "now" -- ie the early 20 somethings -- are extremely open about these issues. We've been talking about it in classes. These girls HAD American Girl dolls. Most of them are pretty disgusted by the boycott.

So no, not a strange circle, nor am I obsessed with sex (although there is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying it -- but I know some people think there is but let's not go there either). It's that the fundamentalist Christians keep bringing the whole boycott issue up, and therefore it's out there currently.

[tom h]

See post 57. There are legitmate reasons for boycotting American Girl but not GM. I really don't care about the corporate citizenship of my car manufacturer, but I do about other businesses. If my church started, corporately, acting like AG did I would leave them. My wife and I just cancelled a subscription to a major journal, which for decades had been considered apolitical and all-American, because their articles started sounding like Washington Post editorials. I can get that elsewhere so they lost one of a million subscribers.

Also consider the slippery slope argument.

Think this through a bit more clearly. It's a matter of choosing one's battles, in the parlance of the industry I work in.

[Katya]

I just find it very difficult to find age appropriate toys in general. I realize that many of my favorite catalogue retailers are probably far to the left of me. I like all things Waldorf, and have bought mostly handmade wooden toys for my children and games through catalogues like Hearth song, Magic cabin and Bella luna. The American girl dolls were our first "commercial" venture, and the dolls and accessories are quite well made. While we won't be buying the bracelets, my 11 year old may still have a year or two interest in their dolls.

[Palladin]

Blessings on everyone who promotes and participates in this boycott.

What a sneaky way to lure little girls into abortion and lesbianism.

Guess I'll stick with Barbie dolls for my granddaughters.
At least Barbie is still heterosexual.

(I don't know about Ken, though.)

[Antoninus]

That's beyond the pale. Her little girl led down the road of sin, misery and destruction. All because she...played with a freaking doll. A DOLL.

The doll had nothing to do with my comment. It was the "I'm ok, you're ok" attitude as preached by twinzmommy that drew my comment. I stand by my belief that this attitude is at the root of why we have so many psychologically and spiritually defective young people in the world today. Too many so-called adults are enablers of bad behavior.

Twinzmommy's problem on this thread is that she's trying to stifle other people who are justifiably angry about this turn of events with American Girl. I'm fine that she has her own opinion. I think it's dead wrong. If you don't like that, too bad.

I would hate to be in your shoes, standing before the Almighty, as well. Christ spoke strongly against the holier-than-thou Pharisees.

Uh, didn't you just do to me what you're accusing me of doing?

[Antoninus]

I am a full time college student, and I'm finding that the generation that is there "now" -- ie the early 20 somethings -- are extremely open about these issues.

Having worked in an office with a lot of women in that age group, what you consider "extremely open" I consider "pathetically obsessed with." For some of them, trying to figure out who is "gay" was typical lunch-break fodder. Many of these young women had no problem going from guy-to-guy around the office. Several of them were not so secretly into drugs. Since I have little tolerance for all of the above, I would often attempt to engage them in debates. After a few of these completely civil sessions, they suddenly stopped trying to debate me en masse. And I knew why: If they admitted I was right on any of these core issues, they would be shunned by the "in" crowd.

I likened the experience to an incident I once heard on the Lynne Samuels radio show in NYC. Lynne (an hard left liberal) had a pro-life caller on who backed her into such a corner that she had to hang up and actually admitted that if she kept talking with that particular caller, she'd become pro-life. She wasn't kidding.

[Deadshot Drifter]

The doll had nothing to do with my comment. It was the "I'm ok, you're ok" attitude as preached by twinzmommy that drew my comment.

Ahh. then I apologize, I thought it was all about the doll. I still don't see what harm is done by choosing not to boycott, if a person chooses not to. But, I think I see where you're coming from. Parents should be parents and not a "best friend" to their children.

[who knows what evil?]

General Motors also supports this group....are you going to boycott them too?

LOL! Why bother? GM is already heading down the tubes. No boycott necessary.

[hilaryrhymeswithrich]

Exactly....I have truly been in both camps and have seen the best and worst of both...for me, it has transended the people and is about the very different philosophies and outlooks on life...

[BooksForTheRight.com]

The source of most of our problems is radical feminism.

[hilaryrhymeswithrich]

Well Katya, not quite true...they are only a dollar and available at the store (we live near NYC) so a credit card is not necessary.

My 12 year old is a researcher and investigator by nature and is very proficient at finding out a great deal of information...I suppose different children require different approaches.

I certainly would also prefer not to have things "ruined" by an ugly reality hence my hope/request that AG choose from a million other worthwhile, non-combustive non-profit options.

And no one has suggested we legislate AG, just using the great options of captialism...

[Antoninus]

I still don't see what harm is done by choosing not to boycott, if a person chooses not to.

No one is saying, "if you don't boycott, you're a bad person." This thread is all about informing people who care deeply about these issues of the actions of a company that masquerades as one of the good guys. If people are sufficiently outraged to boycott their goods, that's up to them. If not, no big deal.

But I do have a problem with someone who goes the extra step and tells people that they're stupid or "intolerant" if they do choose to boycott.

[Diago]

I still don't see what harm is done by choosing not to boycott, if a person chooses not to.

When companies like American Girl donate to left wing causes, they are in a way placing a hidden tax on their products that you end up paying. All kinds of companies donate to Planned Parenthood and as a result of pro-life consumer presure, some have stopped.

The current battle with AG has received a great deal of publicity. If folks can organize and demostrate that power of the pro-life market in such a way that AG's sales suffer and it is forced to stop funding Girls Inc, corporate America will learn a valuable lesson. In the future, companies will be unwilling to donate to left wing causes.

[Calpernia]

Below is a past of the email header from my new mail bomber. I've been receiving about 10 a day with PayPal spoofing and porn sites.

I put 'xxx' over my email and domain. NOTE the domain the mails are being routed from.

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