An ex-White House aide has demanded parents boycott the popular American Girl doll brand, amid backlash over its new book that teaches pre-teen girls how to use puberty blockers and transition – all without their guardians’ consent.
The brazen call to action was made Thursday by former Trump and Bush press chief Mercedes Schlapp, and serves as the latest instance of public outcry toward the dollmaker over a book it published last month.
The book, titled A Smart Girl’s Guide: Body Image, contains lines that give advice to prepubescents on how to change their gender, and provides a list of resources for organizations they can turn to ‘if you don’t have an adult you trust.’
News of the publications’ contents have since spread rapidly, and parents are now taking to social media to chastise a company previously known for its iconic, often pricey dolls meant to encapsulate a period of American history.
That said, many have said they are swearing off the dolls completely – including, Schlapp, 44, who appeared on Fox News to express her distaste over rhetoric being imparted on her and other American kids.
Calling the content ‘dangerous for not only these children, but for our society,’ the veteran White House official laid in the company for throwing its values to the wayside – as it’s been revealed it also published a book last year that taught girls lessons on ‘white privilege’ and ‘structural racism.’
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The brazen call to action was made Thursday by former Trump and Bush press chief Mercedes Schlapp, and serves as the latest instance of public outcry toward the dollmaker over a book it published last month
The book, titled Girl’s Guide: Body Image, contains lines that give advice to prepubescents on how to change their gender, and provides a list of resources for organizations they can turn to ‘if you don’t have an adult you trust.’
‘It’s hard enough for any girl to go through puberty – for any teenager to go through puberty,’ Schlapp, who served as director of specialty media and strategic communications under the presidents, told Fox News’ Dana Perino during a Thursday morning airing of America’s Newsroom.
‘Add to that the pressure, of adding this confusion on your body image, on if you don’t look a certain way – that means you should think about medically changing your body’ she went on, ‘It’s sick and twisted.’
The former White House official then pointed out the brand’s storied history, stating that both her and her daughter grew up on American Girl products, making the recent revelations all the more distressing.
‘The mere fact that you have a company that parents and so many children have enjoyed through the years… to then include this very distorted and disgusting view of how girls shouldn’t be proud of their bodies, in the sense that, if you’re not happy with your body, go ahead and medically change it,’ Schlapp said, ‘I think, is dangerous.’
She then described how she spoke to one of daughters about the story – which caught fire Tuesday after a DailyMail.com report about the 96-page publication, which is billed as a ‘guide’ – with both ultimately expressing their disappointment in the dollmaker.
‘It’s hard enough for any girl to go through puberty – for any teenager to go through puberty,’ Schlapp, who served as director of specialty media and strategic communications under the presidents, told Fox News’ Dana Perino during a Thursday airing of America’s Newsroom
The book, titled Girl’s Guide: Body Image, contains lines that give advice to prepubescents on how to change their gender – provides a list of resources for organizations they can turn to ‘if you don’t have an adult you trust.’ It has since spawned anger amongst parents
‘As my daughter said, as I talked to her about this article today,’ Schlapp recalled of their conversation earlier in the day, ‘it’s a classic company.
‘I’ve enjoyed reading those books, seen the movies, they were so inspirational to me, when I was growing up.’
The former White House official – who has daughters of her own – then called on parent to abstain from purchasing American Girl products, at least until the dollmaker properly addressed the scandal.
‘The American Girl company needs to step away, parents should boycott this company,’ Schlapp told Perino, who herself was a press secretary during Donald Trump’s administration.
Conceding that a boycott of a classic brand like American Girl ‘is very unfortunate,’ Schlapp asserted that such actions are necessary as the company continues to move ‘in this direction,’ evidenced by earlier titles released in the past years that preach polarizing ideals such as critical race theory and climate change.
Conceding that a boycott of a classic brand like American Girl ‘is very unfortunate,’ Schlapp said that such actions are necessary as the company continues to move ‘ in this direction,’ evidenced by passages such as this one that instruct prepubescents to take puberty blockers if they feel confused inside their bodies
One section of the book encourages pre-teen children to seek out puberty blockers without the knowledge of the parents
Schlapp called the latest books’ contents ‘dangerous for not only these children, but for our society,’ stating the company ‘should not be promoting this in any way.’
A host of other parents in the past two days have also been vocal about the book’s contents, calling the message being to preteen girls ‘deceptive and dangerous.’
American Girl Doll’s official Facebook page in particular been beset with negative comments. One person wrote: ‘You book is disgusting. It is child abuse.’ The iconic doll brand and parent company, Mattel, have failed to respond to multiple requests for comment.
Another person wrote: ‘No longer a customer! American Girl is promoting this woke gender ideology!’
While another said: ‘Sounds like American Girl Doll company should focus less on trying to push the agenda of puberty blockers to 3-14 year olds!!!!’
One review on Amazon read: ‘A book that encourages children to take puberty blockers (known to cause infertility and increase risk of cancer) if they don’t feel right in their own skin. AND gives them resources to do so behind their parents back? Is not okay. These kids hear about It enough in this world, there’s no reason to put It in a children’s book.’
Another negative review read: ‘A doctor does not assign your sex at birth. That is created long before you exit the birth canal. And telling girls it’s okay to use puberty blockers and to give them resources if their parents don’t approve? SICK!! This book should teach girls to be happy in your own GIRL body and how to accept that and be proud to be a girl.’
The book also provides a list of resources for organizations the children can turn to ‘if you don’t have an adult you trust’
A press release that promoted the book read in part: ‘Every girl needs to learn to live comfortably in her own skin, and this book will show the way!’
There are also an overwhelming amount of more negative reviews on American Girl’s website, with the lion’s share of them coming in the past 48 hours as news of the book’s contents spread.
The book, penned by resident American Girl author Mel Hammond, is currently available on shelves in bookstores across the country and on the company’s website.
Hammond, who lists her pronouns as ‘she/her’ on her LinkedIn profile, started working for the company in 2019, holding only one job at a small software company in her hometown of Madison.
In 2021, she authored a book under the American Girl Doll brand named Love the Earth. The book focused on climate change.
Hammond said about that book in an interview with American Girls Doll News: ‘I love educating people about the climate crisis, which is why this book was so much fun to write. I enjoy talking about climate change issues and sharing this book with neighbors, friends, and family.’
The writer – whose oeuvre consists of the book in question and two others penned over the past two year – earned her master’s degree in children’s literature at Kansas State, where she says she ‘studied misplaced and giant food in picture books.’
In her bio, she writes that she enjoys working at American Girl, which is also based in Wisconsin, citing how ‘last year for my birthday, my coworkers bought me a two-pound tub of rainbow marshmallows – which I named Marsh.’
The release of the book comes amid a wave of increasingly woke content from the American Girl brand.
Earlier this year, its parent company Mattel, recently put a transgender Barbie doll on the market. Before that, American Girl, which sells more than 30million dolls a year, shilled an Asian doll when anti-Asian hate crimes were skyrocketing across the US.
The company has yet to comment on the contentious content.
In the book, it normalizes being transgender, and pushes children to use puberty blockers.
It read: ‘Parts of your body may make you feel uncomfortable and you may want to change the way you look,’ one excerpt deemed problematic by parents online reads, before asserting ‘That’s totally OK!’
It goes on to advise children: ‘You can appreciate your body for everything it allows you to experience and still want to change certain things about it.’
On the very same page, the book promotes the use of puberty blockers, telling girls to seek them out from their doctor if they feel confused about their gender but are not physically ready to undergo hormone therapy.
The book then tells readers that ‘if you don’t have an adult you trust, there are organizations across the country that can help you. Turn to the resources on page 95 for more information.’
