Stuff Mom Never Told You about Dolls and Scandinavia

This week, our Stuff Mom Never Told You episodes were inspired by nostalgia and by our travel wish list. The nostalgia led to a podcast on our favorite childhood dolls (exempting Barbie and the American Girl dolls, which had been discussed previously) and a yearning for vacation led us to escape to the wonderful world of Scandinavia, which, if you believe the media, is a gender rights Shangri-la. So what did we learn?

When I saw that Raggedy Ann celebrated her 95th birthday this September, I knew she needed a Stuff Mom Never Told You shout-out. Cristen wanted to praise Madame Alexander, and we were united in our desire to talk about Cabbage Patch Kids, as we both grew up in the midst of the CPK craze. After learning a bit more about these dolls, I’d have to say that Raggedy Ann has the most interesting back story. I had no idea that the girl who received the first Raggedy Ann died tragically young from a vaccination, or that the doll is sometimes thought to be a symbol of the anti-vaccine movement. But my favorite doll in this podcast has to remain the Cabbage Patch Kid, if only because of the bizarreness that is BabyLand General Hospital, just up the road from us here in Georgia.

Our sources for the doll episode:

• “Doll FAQs,” Connecticut Doll Artists
• “Beatrice Behrman, 95, Doll Maker Known as Madame Alexander” by Alfonso A. Narvaez, New York Times
• Madame Alexander Web site
• “Madame Alexander Dolls — Setting the Standard for Best Doll Quality for Generations,” DollKind.com
• “Raggedy Ann — Facts, Fiction, and FAQs,” DollKind.com
• “The Raggedy Ann Story” by Melissa Haug, Victoriana
• “Don’t Tell This Doll That Fads Die” by Carol Lawson, New York Times
• “Top 10 Toy Crazes” by M.J. Stephey, Time
• Cabbage Patch Kids Web site
• “Special Delivery” by Candice Dyer, Atlanta Magazine
• “Nuclear Family” by Barbara Mikkelson, Snopes
• “Cabbage Patch Death Certificates” by Barbara Mikkelson, Snopes

You don’t have to do much reading about Scandinavia or the Nordic countries to come across the idea that they’re havens of gender equality. But why? Cristen and I put on our detective hats, and I have to say I was a little frustrated by what we found. Yes, Norway has an amazing maternity and paternity leave program, and they’ve instituted quotas to ensure that women reach the heights of the business world. And sure, Iceland has outlawed strip clubs. However, are these the markers of a gender-equal society? I’m not so sure. Norway may be great for mothers who want to balance family and career, but can things really be equal when there’s still a gender wage gap? Do quotas really lead to equality, or are they a recipe for a gender backlash? Cristen and I couldn’t decide, so we’re hoping our listeners will help us figure out what qualities make a women-friendly country. We’re also hoping we can go to Scandinavia soon and see for ourselves.

Sources:

• “Norway’s Novel Approach to Bringing Equality to the Board Room” by Niels Reise, Spiegel
• “Mothers in Norway Have the Best Lives” by Paula Bernstein, Babble
• “In Scandinavia’s equality central, an antifeminist backlash?” by Louise S. Nissen, New York Times
• “Does the Market Really Disapprove of Women on Norwegian Boards?” by Kate Sweetman, Fast Company
• “Norway tops gender equality list,” BBC
• “Swedish Sex Equality Won’t Help Mona Sahlin’s Election Bid” by Johan Carlstrom, Bloomberg
• “Iceland: the world’s most feminist country” by Julie Bindel, The Guardian
• “A Scandinavian Model? Gender Equality Discourses on Multiculturalism” by Trude Langvasbraten, Oxford Journals
• “Women and Men in Norway: What the figures say” by Statistics Norway
• “The Nordic Model of Marriage” by Kari Melby, Anu Pylkkanen, Bente Rosenbeck and Christina Carlsson Wetterberg, Women’s History Review (available via library database)

What dolls did you play with? Have you been to Scandinavia? Let us know! We’d also love it if you’d join us on Facebook and Twitter!