A Bit of a Rant (a guest post by Anna Catherine)

   Recently I read a post on AG In The Shire about the state of the American Girl fan community.   The post had several good points, I only had one bone to pick with it which I'll go ahead and say before I go on: I don't think that doll blogs should have cursing or inappropriateness on them.   I feel like a lot of young children will be looking at doll blogs for ideas for their own dolls, so I don't think that people should use curse words on them.   That being said, this is a personal opinion and I don't have to read their blog if I don't like it.   I already talked to both Adi and Maddie about this, and we understand that we all have opinions and I'm not just trying to be mean and picky.   Also, Maddie doesn't use curse words very much on her blog, it was only a few times.

   What really bothered me about this was not Adi's post or Maddie's blog, but the comments.

   I'm not going to use names, but here are some direct quotes from the comment section that bothered me:

"The AG fandom is made up of a bunch of people who are white racist homophobic transphobic phobic-of-other-religions phobic-of-people-with-disabilities and every other kind of social phobia people. They hunt out and attempt to destroy any who are not of their own kind. They hate and ridicule those who are different. Really, it's a pretty crap community, to be honest. There are some individual amazing people - like you and Maddie - but the general vibe is Intolerance."

"Like i said on maddie's post, the AG fandom is a bunch of rich, white, 9 year old, hyperchristian girls who spew bible verses onto their blog. i think somebody needs to stand up to them. you and maddie did a very very good job of that. thank you"

   Since when did we all become rich, white, nine-year-old, hyper-Christian girls?

   I'll break the first stereotype.   I am definitely not rich.   I know that I'm not an American Girl blogger, but here's the deal: lots of people buy their dolls on clearance, or from thrift stores.   My only American Girl doll (Kirsten) was found at a thrift store, and my family has never bought anything from American Girl since we took her to the Doll Hospital.   I've paid for most of my dolls with my own spending money.   Only Elsa and Mulan were not paid for by me, and they were Christmas presents.   I make most of my doll's things, or I buy them on clearance or from yard sales.

   My Froggy Stuff's blogger isn't white or nine years old.   She collects all kinds of dolls, from American Girl to Monster High.   She is the best doll crafter I've ever seen, and she's so creative in what she does.    Every time I watch any of her videos, I end up saying, "This woman is a genius."   My Froggy Stuff is probably my favorite crafting blog, bar none.

   Almost everyone I've ever seen in the doll blogging community is an adult.   The Toy Box Philosopher, Doll It Up, and Doll Diaries are all run by adults.   This blog, Doll Mag, and In A World of My Own are all run by teenagers.   I've never seen any of these blogs judge other people or slam biases in anyone's face.

   I can't name one blog (except maybe this one, but it's an extreme case) that shoves any religion into anyone's face.   I like to post Bible verses that apply to holidays, but that's it.   I like people to know that I'm a Christian, and my Christianity influences what I post and what I don't post, but that's all.   This blog is not my missions platform.   If I'm going to witness to someone, I'd much rather do it face to face.

   You who make such a broad statement, you are the hypocrites, not the entire community.   There are some who are rich, some who are white, some who are nine years old, some who are Christians, not all.   We stand up to you, the ones who make the stereotypes.   When you make the stereotype of the entire community, you become a stereotype with the rest of us.

Anna Catherine