Marisol in the Middle
A new doll is causing controversy in Chicago’s Mexican community.
By Yolanda Perdomo

In a book that tells the doll’s story, Marisol is a 10-year-old girl who loves to dance. She also loves her family, her cat, and Pilsen, her working-class Mexican neighborhood in Chicago. “The first reaction was ‘Oh wow, a Mexican-American Girl doll from Pilsen, that’s a nice thing to hear,’ ” says Nancy Villa Franca, director of education for The Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, located in Pilsen.

But as the story continues, Marisol’s family plans to leave Pilsen for the suburbs because, as Marisol’s mother says, “it’s dangerous” and “there was no place to play.” That seemingly negative passage has people in the Chicago neighborhood upset with that portrait of their community.

“When you read that word, ‘dangerous,’ you think of fear … you’re in a dangerous neighborhood, you better watch out,” says Villa Franca, who grew up in Pilsen, near Harrison Park, a place where Marisol also plays with her friends. “My fear is that the message that they get by reading the book is that Pilsen is a difficult place for a person, a child, a little girl, to grow up in, and be successful. That’s not the case.”

The Marisol doll ($84) is the second Hispanic doll created by the American Girl Doll company, which has a host of dolls representing various ethnicities in the United States. Founded in 1986, the company has sold more than 100 million American Girl books, and more than 10 million dolls, ranking second only to Barbie in the doll department. Since 1998, The American Girl Place in downtown Chicago has become a popular tourist attraction, drawing more than 7 million visitors. Girls (and their dolls) visit the entertainment and retail center for tea parties, theater productions, and other activities centered around the dolls. The company says it’s saddened and disappointed with the negative reaction to Marisol’s story. “We feel that this brief passage has been taken out of context in the book”, says Stephanie Spanos, senior public relations associate for American Girl. “In the story you’ll see that Marisol’s parents want to have a house and a yard, and a place for her to play. As well as there are some other reasons, too, that they are talking about moving.”

The American Girl company has no plans to change the book, or omit the passage in question. In a written statement, Berkeley-based Gary Soto, author of the Marisol book, says the story is about how much Marisol loves everything around her, including her neighborhood. “This is a novel about dance, the praise of place, and the lament for one child’s sense of loss,” says Soto.

“All it takes is changing a couple of words. I think the community would have reacted differently,” says Villa Franca, who says the portrayal of the Mexican neighborhood is not flattering. “To hear that girls all over the United States can buy this doll … they’re going to get the wrong message.”