American Girl has launched a "homeless" doll named Gwen. Gwen comes with a paperback book about making friends. Gwen's story (which is actually told in the Chrissa doll's book) is that the father left the family and then the mother lost her job. The mother and daughter have to resort to sleeping in their car and living at a homeless shelter. In the end, the mother and daughter manage to get a new apartment. You can read a summary of Gwen's story here in the American Girl wiki. CBS News reports that the controversial doll has stirred up a debate. Some think the doll is a good "teaching tool" while critics think American Girl is profiting at the expense of homeless children.
"I think (a 'homeless' doll is) a good idea," one mother shopping in an American Girl store told CBS News Correspondent Hattie Kauffman. "It kind of shows awareness to what's going on in the world."
"I think it's really a good idea, because homelessness affects everybody, at different economic levels," Herb Smith, president of the Los Angeles Mission, remarked to Kauffman. "I actually think it's a good teaching tool."
Not so fast, say some homeless advocates, such as one who observed to Kauffman that she finds "the whole concept to be extremely disturbing. It's not a doll I would ever buy for a child."
There are between 7,000 and 10,000 homeless children in L.A. alone, Kauffman notes, and it's doubtful many, if any, could afford Gwen's $95 price tag.
There are a lot of Americans losing their homes this year because of the recession and the "homeless" tag could motivate young girls to think and ask questions. It can also be argued that the $95 may be better spent if it was donated to a charity that helps the homeless. CBS says American Girl is "disheartened" there has been confusion over the doll. They say the homeless doll was meant to offer "valuable lessons about life."
American Girl says the dolls "offer valuable lessons about life," and it is "disheartened that there has been any confusion over our fictional characters." The company adds that, while no proceeds from sales of Gwen and related offerings go directly to help the homeless, it has given almost $500,000 since 2006 to HomeAid, a national nonprofit group that tries to help the homeless find housing.
American Girl has a listing for Gwen here. The product page currently says nothing about Gwen being homeless. You can find more discussion of Gwen the "homeless" girl doll here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
