Hispanics Criticize American Girl Doll

[Placebo]

Some residents of Chicago's largely Hispanic Pilsen section are upset over a new doll in the popular American Girl series because her storyline says the Mexican-American youngster and her family left the "dangerous" neighborhood for a better life in the suburbs. Many in the West Side neighborhood say the characterization is insulting and inaccurate.

"It's very offensive and it's really a slap in the face to the hardworking people of the Pilsen community," said Alvaro R. Obregon, who lives near where the doll, Marisol, supposedly lived before setting out for suburban Des Plaines.

According to the biography that accompanies the doll, which was introduced just after Christmas, she is the daughter of a transit worker and an accountant. One day her mother tells Marisol the family is leaving their apartment for a house in the suburbs.

The old neighborhood "was no place for me to grow up," the doll's story says. "It was dangerous, and there was no place for me to play."

More...

[smirkymonkey]

1. Also, she kind of looks like J. Lo...

which would imply that all Latina women are talentless...:evilgrin:

[musiclawyer]

5. Had Selena lived, we'd have no J-Lo

Think about that.

[Postmanx]

6. So I guess Selena should have moved to a safer neighborhood

[Placebo]

8. Ha.

Maybe she should have. :crazy:

[tanyev]

2. Ah, the American dream.

Life in a soulless Mcmansion in a sterile suburb.

[merwin]

3. Yes, no mexican has ever left a dangerous area for a safe one.

That would be absurd! All mexicans stay in their bad neighborhoods.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

10. Way to miss the point entirely.

:eyes:

[Postmanx]

4. Nothing wrong with leaving the city for a better life in the 'burbs.

---snip---
Spanos added that the "dangerous" comment was a reference to traffic in the big city and that Marisol's parents moved to Des Plaines because they wanted a house and a yard for their daughter to play in.

Police spokesman Pat Camden said Pilsen's crime level is pretty typical for Chicago. "Crime there is not the highest and it's not the lowest," he said.

Although crime was down 6 percent last year in Pilsen, the neighborhood still grapples with gang violence and high dropout rates
---snip---

Live in the city if you want, or move to the suburbs if you want and by all means throw a hissy fit if you feel a doll is insulting your choice.

[Withywindle]

7. Chicago Trib reported a few years ago that random sudden death...

is more common in the suburbs than the city.


Suburban traffic kills a lot more people than urban traffic OR crime.


Actually, this is kind of insulting to ALL city dwellers, not just folks in Pilsen (which is not a particularly bad neighborhood).

[stevedeshazer]

9. Great!

It's hard to find a pink cell phone in the city.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. Poor thing. She won't know real corruption until she moves to the 'burbs.