‘Bag Lady’ Dolls Assailed as ‘Trivializing Poverty’ : ‘ . . . There are 3 to 6 million homeless in this country and it’s tragic. You can’t make something cute out of that.’
The National Union of the Homeless picketed a Los Angeles factory Monday protesting that the “Bag Lady” dolls it makes are degrading because there is nothing cute about being a bag lady or being homeless.
“Bag Lady dolls trivialize poverty and perpetuate the myth that bag ladies and other homeless people are drug addicts, winos and derelicts who choose to live on the streets rather than work,” said David Silva, leader of a dozen protesters at Sher Stuff Products factory in the 13300 block of South Figueroa Street. Silva said the Los Angeles protest followed similar protests by the Union of the Homeless at stores that sell the dolls in New York and Boston.
Dolls Thought Cute
Silva, national coordinator of the National Union of the Homeless, said he has tried to persuade the firm to drop the Bag Lady doll but that Donald Gourley, the president of the family business that produces them, has told him that he thinks they are cute and that the firm will continue producing them.
“I’ve told him there are three to six million homeless in this country and it’s tragic. You can’t make something cute out of that.”
Gourley said Monday that his firm intends to continue making the Bag Lady dolls and that they are not intended to be insulting to poor people and the homeless.
“The Bag Lady dolls are a slice of American life, like our surgeon dolls or tourist dolls. I think they’re giving publicity to the existence of the homeless and bag ladies. I think some good might come of it,” Gourley said.
‘Think . . . About Homeless’
“I hope Bag Lady dolls will teach people more compassion for real bag ladies. I think that when people have one of these dolls, they’re going to think more about the homeless and have more sympathy for them. I know I did.”
Gourley’s firm turns out between 400 and 500 “people dolls” a day, outfitted as doctors, tennis players, maids, butlers, tourists and even scuba divers. Since the Bag Lady doll was introduced 10 months ago, about 500 have been sold in sizes ranging from 16 inches to 6 feet tall. The dolls are built on a basic body of polyester robe velour over a steel wire frame and stuffed with polyester fiber.
The dolls, sold in fashionable novelty stores, sell for up to $350 for the largest models.
Gourley said his Bag Lady dolls are dressed in odd socks, old coats and tattered dresses. They wear old straw hats, old shoes or tennis shoes, most of which are purchased at thrift stores.
