American Girl is for Everyone.
The American Girl Wiki is a diverse and inclusive community, despite what some corners of the fandom try to do to make it not so. The American Girl Wiki believes in equality, diversity, and inclusion of all people. We will not tolerate bigotry against cultures, ethnicities, genders, disabilities, or anything else. No social minority--regardless of race, gender, faith, sexuality, or ability--should be bullied or hurt.
This is not a topic that is up for debate. There is no other side to this topic. If you think there is, get out. If you can't or won't respect everyone, get out. We don't need you here.
No prejudice or bigotry will be allowed at any time for any reason--which includes racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, anti-feminism, ableism, religious oppression, or any -isms. We don't allow homophobic or transphobic language, ethnic slurs or religious hate. That means no language or content that encourages hatred or violence, or that disparages others on the basis of their race, gender, sexuality, religion, country of origin and so on.
Don't complain that American Girl is now "woke" or "kowtowing to social justice, cancel culture, and Critical Race Theory"--especially if you can't define those terms without being racist. Which you can't. Admin knows the dogwhistles.
Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Respect
The American Girl brand is diverse and inclusive. The characters are diverse and span cultures. The fans ought to be diverse and inclusive, though we've seen places where it's not. We here respect all cultures and peoples. This includes in our editing.
Some specifics:
- Do not assume that everyone here is of your belief system or lack thereof. Do not use anti-Muslim, antisemitic, anti-Christian, or any anti-faith terminology.
- The Indigenous people of North America refer to themselves with various terms: Indigenous, Native American, Native, and the like. They sometimes use "Indian", but we will not outside of text references. Do not use the term "Indian" for characters like Kaya'aton'my or her people.
- Do not group the Native peoples of North and South America into one culture; they are diverse and unique. Do not refer to Indigenous people in a past tense as if there are no more living Indigenous people; they are still here and still active in preserving their culture despite attempts to destroy it.
- It is preferred to not use the term "settlement" to describe the arrival of Europeans to what is now North and South America. Terms like "pioneer" are acceptable mostly because characters refer to themselves as such, but "settlement" is incorrect and puts the arrival of White peoples to the continent and lands above the prior existence of the Indigenous people there--the American continents had multiple peoples of varying cultures living here long before any European people arrived. "Colonization" is a more appropriate term.
- Do not use offensive terms for Native people or treat them as mascots. In cases where products use offensive names (e.g. the NFL Fan Tee for a team in Kansas City), we will mention our disapproval of it outright.
- Regarding enslaved people like Addy (and her family), and Rose and Marcus in Felicity's series--and enslavers like Master Stevens, Edward Merriman, and Grandfather--use the term "enslaved people" and "enslaver" rather than "slave" and "master/owner" outside of the book's titles of address and in summaries and character bios. They may be fictional characters, but being enslaved is not all they are--especially in the case of Addy's stories--and American chattel slavery was always immoral. "Slave" and "master" imply slavery as an inherent or value-neutral condition where people claimed other peoples as property and implied they could ever be morally "owned" by anyone else. Using the terms enslaved and enslaver are subtle but important ways of affirming that African chattel slavery in the United States (and worldwide) was immorally forced upon the people subject to it, perpetuated by those that participated in it by buying and selling and thinking they owned others, and that slavery was not and should not be considered part of the personal character and definition of who the enslaved--both people fictional and real--were. "Fugitive" also implies that enslaved people were in the moral wrong to escape the immorality of enslavement and seek their freedom; they should be called "emancipated" or "freedom-seekers." See here: Language of Slavery, Underground Railroad Education Center.
Disability Respect and Inclusion
Here at the A*G Wiki, we will use the appropriate words for disabilities. Which is, in fact, disability or disabled. The AP Style guide has stated as of 2022 that disabled and disability are the correct terms to use.
"Cutesy" terms, disparaging language, or covertly abelist language that places the social issues of disability on those who are--such as differently-abled, "special needs", "person of unique needs", "handi-capable," "inspiring and brave," "the biggest disability is negative thinking" and other such nonsense--hides the facts of disability and does not help people who are disabled or show or help the actuality of their needs. Do not use cutesy or fluffy language, nor condescending or rude language, about disability. Do not use ableist terms. Disability is not a dirty word.
Attempts--especially repeated ones--to use inappropriate and condescending terms, "inspiration tokenism," and/or rude or offensive language for disabled peoples and their disabilities will be corrected and addressed and, if not course-corrected by the user, lead to blocks or bans as needed.
See the full article at Disability and Language.
LGBTQ+, Queer and Trans Rights and Inclusiveness
The American Girl Wiki supports full rights for all people of the LGBTQ+/queer community, including trans people. We are disturbed by the many anti-gay and anti-trans bills that have been proposed and passed in the United States in the past several years in backlash to their visibility.
Queer, gender diverse, trans, and nonbinary people are real and valid. They are part of the American Girl community, our society, and our world. There is no space here to support anyone--creators included--who actively denigrates and oppresses trans people. Trans people have the right to be allowed to exist in peace as who they are. Trans rights are human rights. We support trans people and trans rights, and denounce anti-trans mentalities and transphobia in all forms.
Queer is not a slur. If an editor doesn't want to use the term personally, this is fine, but others can use it and use it in articles as the umbrella term it is. Offensive words will not be tolerated.
Use the pronouns that people ask you to use for them. Do not assume any editor's pronouns by username. While it may seem like a minor detail to you, the affirmation of pronouns and gender identities go a long way both in real life, and on a wiki. The affirmation of pronouns helps everybody feel comfortable, safe, and "seen" by their community. "They/them" is perfectly grammatically correct and neutral -- until you know someone's specific pronouns and/or they say they don't want that used for them, and then it's misgendering.
Be as gender neutral as possible for items such as outfits and Dress Like Your Doll sets. Rather than say that clothing is for "girls," just say children; after all, not all children with a femme style or who play with dolls are young girls. Consequently, when mentioning purchasers of items, say "customers", "consumers" or "purchasers"; don't say, for example, "mothers," as not all purchasers are women buying items to give to their children. Don't assume an American Girl fan must be female or cisgendered.
The transphobic views expressed by the creator of Harry Potter do not align with that of the American Girl Wiki. See the full article (which includes our response to the HP collaboration) at Trans Rights And Inclusiveness. Items in the Harry Potter collaboration are only documented for informational purposes--we do it because we have to, not because we want to. Any editor caught removing any of the templates used to warn other users regarding the HP collaboration from pages will be removed from the project under vandalism.
Violations Will Be Swiftly Handled
Any unknowing violations of diversity policies will be firmly and swiftly corrected. You will be told better and after that, you are expected to do better. We aren't born knowing what we learned is wrong, but we can do better once we know we've made a mistake. When you learn the stew you've eaten has dirt in it, you don't keep eating the dirt and you don't go back for seconds.
If you continue to test the boundaries, you will be blocked and/or banned. No one has time for you.
Any and all massive violations of our anti-bigotry policies will result in an immediate indefinite ban on the first offense as well as a report to Fandom's global staff.