Meet Gwen Thompson, the Homeless American GirlABC News September 25th, 2009
In a storybook that details the doll's life, Gwen's mother revealed, "I woke up one morning to learn that my husband had left us, and my daughter and I were evicted -- truly homeless. I always thought homelessness happened to other people. Never to me."I'm not sure what Matel is trying to accomplish with this $95 doll? At first I thought it was completely absurd but then I remembered my favorite childhood game: orphans. My three cousins, two brothers, and I would all gather in my grandmother's basement and pretend that we were orphans hiding out because we didn't want to go to the orphanage. Same thing when we "played trools" (blast from the past!), they were always orphans (though I think the trolls lived in an orphanage). Kids aren't immune to sad situations.Ms. Thompson goes on to describe their destitute lifestyle, "At first, my daughter and I slept in our car. I'd park so that we'd wake up near a wayside rest area or restaurant - somewhere where we could use the sink for washing up - and then I'd go to work and pretend that life was just as it had always been."
But why would mom choose Gwen when there are options for dolls with much happier stories? The moms who need Gwen to normalize their situation and help their daughters understand that they aren't alone are not going to shell out $95 on a doll. I think that with the right donation or fundraising campaign this doll could do a lot of good. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like there was any such campaign in mind when they created the doll.
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