American Girl dolls lost the woke battle
The result of the presidential election was in part a referendum on the left to stop pushing gender ideology on children.
The idea that a child may have been born in the wrong body or could possibly change their biological sex has no place in schools and it should never have a place in media programming, books, or toys marketed to children. The majority of parents said, “no more!”
Two years ago, in early December 2022, I walked into an American Girl doll store on my daughter’s birthday and was shocked to see trans activism spelled out clearly in a book marketed to girls ages 9-12. A Smart Girl’s Guide to Body Image taught girls how to seek out “gender affirming care” including puberty blockers and the mutilation of their distinctly female anatomy. Infuriated by this, I penned the CP Voices op-ed, “American Girl Wants to Trans Your Daughter,” which went viral within a few hours after the Daily Mail picked up the story.
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The parental outrage sparked national news outlets and podcasts to spread the word that American Girl can no longer be trusted, and rightly so.
On the Megyn Kelly show, beauty pageant queen turned mom, Carrie Prejean Boller lamented, “We can’t even take our daughters to the American Girl Store without this gender ideology being shoved down our throats. The American people have to vote with our dollars.”
Indeed, from National Review to the New York Post to Fox News, local TV news stations around the country, and many more news outlets put pressure on American Girl to pull the book from their shelves.
On the other hand, USA Today and the Washington Post appeared to be in favor of keeping the book on the shelves, claiming that it included accurate information confirmed by experts at Boston Children’s Hospital.
But are they really experts we can trust?
Boston Children’s Hospital houses the primary pediatric program of Harvard Medical School, which has performed 301 total sex change surgeries on children, earning more than $6 million for this “gender-affirming care,” as reported by Do No Harm’s recently published database Stop the Harm. According to the Washington Stand, Boston Children’s Hospital was given $3.3 million by the NIH to promote gender transitions for out-of-state minors.
Parents have seen the writing on the wall. We are not going to allow these medical “experts” to indoctrinate our children through school programs, books, or toys.
It only takes a quick look into American Girl’s financial reports to see the fallout.
American Girl is owned by the toy company Mattel. In the fourth quarter of 2022, American Girl took a 17% revenue loss due to the snowball effect of outrage because of their pushing transgender ideology. In 2023, American Girl lost so much revenue, almost 10% compared to 2022, that Mattel reported a subsidiary change to American Girl’s operational status. Their 2023 fourth-quarter report announced, “Beginning in the first quarter of 2024, Mattel’s American Girl business is being integrated into its North America commercial organization. As a result, American Girl will no longer be an operating segment.”
American Girl succumbed to pressure after losing so much revenue and removed the book from their shelves in February 2023, while keeping it available for those who asked for it at the store.
Despite this move, it is clear that American Girl will not regain the trust of parents. I, for one, will never purchase from them again.
In 2023, I began searching for an alternative but could not find anything comparable for many months.
That all changed when I came across a brand startup company created to meet the new demand for wholesome, beautiful, timeless dolls.
Emily Richett, the founder of Faith Friends Co, had been a longtime fan of American Girl, wishing for one when she grew up and finally getting to experience purchasing them for the first time for her own daughters.
She says, “For me, the body image book [pushing transgenderism] was the last straw. I could not continue to sit back as one by one, our children’s shows, games, books, authors, and toy brands were deserting them, causing [them] harm, and filling them with lies.”
“That set me on a path of completely starting a doll brand from scratch — one that would support our girls as they’re going through this pivotal time in their lives, growing from little girls into young women.”
To create her company, she designed and produced three Faith Friends Dolls. Their names are Faith, Hope and Grace, with the goal of fostering these character qualities in the girls who own the dolls.
She had no plans of expanding her product line until she received an unexpected message from a beloved, trailblazing, faith-based musician in July of this year.
Singer-songwriter Anne Wilson’s management reached out to Richett, asking her if she would consider creating an Anne Wilson doll. She took on the challenge and turned around a gorgeous Anne Wilson doll in one month.
Anne Wilson made history when her debut album, “My Jesus,” claimed the number one spot on Billboard Top Christian & Gospel Albums in 2022. For Anne Wilson fans, it’s a dream come true. For former American Girl Doll fans, it’s showtime.
Now instead of purchasing a doll from a company aligned with gender ideology, girls can own a wholesome, beautiful 18-inch doll from a company whose mission is to encourage them to be who God created them to be.
Even today, American Girl's popular “Truly Me” doll comes with the “All About Us” journal that points girls to find their horoscope and discover their secret superhero identity along with the empty promises and false beliefs these discoveries might provide.
By contrast, Richett says, “Faith Friends Co. has created journals to go with our dolls that take girls on a journey of faith, creativity, virtue, and discovering who they are from a biblical perspective, from who God says they are. It’s for girls ages 6-12.”
In just a little over a month, President-elect Trump will make his way back to the White House. He’s likely to carry out major reforms, some of which will be targeted at protecting children from gender ideology.
Even sooner, on Wednesday, December 4, the Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments regarding the constitutionality of Tennessee’s prohibition on transgender medical procedures — puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries — on minors in U.S. v. Skrmetti.
All children deserve to grow up in an America that isn’t seeking to change them, castrate them, mutilate them, or cause them to doubt who God designed them to be. It seems that finally, parents are aware of the scope of the enmeshment of gender ideology in all cultures, including in doll companies. And they aren’t having it.
American Girl has not made their book available in their online store since 2023.
Anne Young is a mother of two daughters.
