I’m not generally a big fan of dolls as toys for girls. To me, they promote too many gender steretypes. Needless to say, we have thousands of Barbies and even more baby dolls. Our most recent acquisition was soccer Barbie (sent by my mother in law). At least Barbie is the coach, even if she’s dressed all in pink. Sigh.

Still, it seems silly that the AFA is planning to boycott the American Girl line of dolls because a portion of its proceeds from the sale of one particular doll are going to Girls, Inc. Girls, Inc. generally serves an underprivileged community and promotes such things as access to birth control and help with issues of sexual orientation. The president of the company, Joyce Roche stated that “Girls, Inc. takes positions on public policy issues if it believes women’s rights and opportunities are at stake. ‘Our philosophy is that women should have the right to make decisions about themselves.’ Yeah, that’s pretty much my philosophy, too. Might have to go make a donation, or . . . buy another freaking doll.